New Mutants in Bayville
by Dee Saylors
Summary: Bayville gets a few new mutants. Can it handle them? And what about the family ties some of them have? Sure pairings are in fifth chapter. Please R&R!
1. Meet Denise Saylors, A Walking Volcano!

A teen girl sighed as she sat on the second story roof of her home in Los Angeles, California. She wore dark blue pajama pants and a dark blue tank top. Her dark brown hair was down, falling about two inches below the shoulders. Her emerald green eyes scanned the city before her as the breeze cooled her skin. This was the last time she'd see L.A. at night. She really didn't want to move, but her parents wanted to forget. She looked at the small piece of paper in her hand. She climbed back into her window, heading to the phone in her room. Everything in her room was either black or blue, with some exceptions. She picked up the receiver and quickly dialed the number written on the piece of paper she held. The phone rang four times before someone picked it up.  
"Hello, Xavier Institute," a male voice said.  
"Hello is Charles Xavier in?" she asked, her voice slightly squeaky.  
"Yeah, hold on a second."  
The girl heard a shuffling noise, followed by the voice that answered arguing with another male voice. Soon, she heard the boy who answered sigh, saying he'd go get the Professor if the other boy talked to her. The other boy obviously agreed because shortly after a German accented voice came through the receiver.  
"Scott vent to get ze Professor. He'll be back soon," the voice stated. It held a cheerfulness that made her smile.  
"Thanks, I guess. So, Scott's the guy who answered the phone, huh?"  
"Ja. I'm Kurt Vagner, vhat's your name?"  
"Denise Saylors, but everyone calls me Dee."  
"Vhy are you calling ze Institute?"  
Denise didn't say anything for a while, earning her a 'Hello?' from the German boy. "I'm a mutant. Mom and Dad are forcing me to move to Bayville, Mom's hometown. They don't realize the Xavier Institute is near Bayville, so I'm guessing they want to try and forget. I want to get help, though. I'm not sure how to control something like this, ya know?"  
The other end was quiet for a minute or two, before he responsed. "Ja. So, when are you going to get here?"  
"I'll leave here at eight in the mornin' and arrive there around four in the afternoon, 'cause of the time change, you know?"  
"Oh, you'll have terrible jetlag vhen you get here."  
She smiled again, even though the boy at the other end couldn't see her. "Yeah, but I'll survive."  
Just then, she heard Kurt talking with someone else. Then he spoke to her again. "Ze Professor's going to speak vith you now."  
"Alright, later then." She heard more shuffling until another male voice came over the phone. Unlike the two before, who she had guessed were around her own age, this voice was deeper and belonged to someone much older than herself.  
"Hello, Denise, is it?" the voice asked.  
"Um, yeah," she said nervously, wishing she was talking to Kurt or Scott again. Preferably Kurt, since she didn't say much to Scott anyway.  
"I am Charles Xavier. I run this Institute."  
"I know. I saw it on the news the other day. That's why I called."  
"I see." He stopped talking and she thought she heard Kurt in the background. Her thoughts were confirmed when Xavier spoke again. "Kurt tells me you'll be here tomorrow. I'd like to meet you. I can send someone to the airport tomorrow. Is that okay?"  
"Yeah, it'll be hard to explain to my parents, but I have an idea," she stated, but soon became nervous again. "Who ya sendin'?"  
"How about Scott and Kurt? You've talked to them over the phone."  
She sighed in relief. "That's good. Uh, how will I know it's them, though?"  
"Look for a young man with ruby quartz sunglasses. That will be Scott."  
"Okay." She heard footsteps on the stairs. "Hey, I gotta go now. Until tomorrow." She didn't wait for him to respond, she just hung up. She quickly hopped into bed after closing her window silently. She turned off her bedside lamp off and pretended to be asleep. Her bedroom door opened and her mother peeked in, sighing a bit.  
"Tomorrow, our lives will restart. My baby isn't a mutie," she heard her mom say. After her mother left, Denise let a lone teardrop fall. She was leaving her best friend, Drew, not to mention everyone she'd ever known. And all her mother could do was try and forget that her daughter was a mutant.  
  
At the Xavier Institute, Xavier gently sat the receiver down on the hook. Kurt and Scott had been standing behind him throughout the entire phone conversation. Xavier pressed his fingers together, apparently thinking.  
"It seems that she's hiding the fact that she wishes to attend the Institute from her parents. I wonder why?"  
"So, are we going to pick her up from the airport, Professor?"  
"Yes, Scott. I'm sending you and Kurt, since she seems a bit nervous and you both talked to her."  
Scott nodded before leaving. Xavier turned his attention to Kurt. "Kurt, did the girl happen to mention what it was she can do?"  
Kurt shook his head. "Sorry, Professor, but all she said vas zat she didn't know how to control it."  
Xavier nodded. "Very well then. We shall find out tomorrow." Xavier wheeled away, to his study most likely, while Kurt teleported to his bedroom.  
  
The next morning, Denise woke up, slipped into her baggy camo pants, black tank top covered by a camo vest, black combat boots, black fingerless gloves, and her army tags. She pulled her hair up in a high ponytail, the tip reaching the base of her neck. She quickly stuffed her pajamas in one of her bags and grabbed them. She ran down the stairs, partially excited about today.  
"I'm ready Mom!"  
"Okay honey. Me and you are going to take the same flight and your father is going to come later. He's getting our luggage."  
"'Kay Mom."  
With that, Denise hopped into the passenger side of the car. The ride to the airport was quiet, Denise jamming away to her portable CD player. Once they reached the airport, Denise took off, her small, green duffle bag on her left shoulder, filled with her essentials. Her mother had gotten their seats so that Denise could sit by herself, knowing that's what her daughter would want to do. Denise boarded the plane, her mother a few minutes behind her. As they got situated, the plane took off. Denise went to sleep, still listening to her music.  
  
At the Xavier Institute, the students were still sleeping. Well, all except for Jean and Scott. Jean was going to spend the day with Duncan and was currently awaiting his arrival. A few minutes after Jean had finished getting ready, a car horn honked, signaling Duncan had arrived. About an hour after Jean left, Kitty rushed downstairs to find Scott asleep at the kitchen table. She just ignored him, grabbing an apple as Lance pulled up in his jeep. They had talked about what happened the night she'd called him a hood and they both agreed to forget the past and start their relationship anew. She phased through the front door and the gate, hopping into the passenger seat of Lance's jeep. They quickly drove away.  
"Scott, vake up! It's twelve thirty already!"  
Scott groaned, opening his eyes to find Kurt crouched on the table. "Can't I sleep a little longer?"  
"You too, huh?" At Scott's confused look, Kurt continued. "I vas up all night zinking about vhat she'll be like."  
Scott suddenly remembered the events from last night. "Oh, yeah. I mean, she seemed so unsure of what she was doing?"  
"She vas probably scared. I vould be too."  
"Yeah, you're right. Well, I'm going to study a bit. I have a test on Monday, in Trig."  
"Okay, I'll be in ze shower!"  
Scott nodded as he left. Apparently Kurt had just woken up himself. When Scott entered his room, he pulled his trigonometry book out of his backpack and set down at his desk. He was so involved in studying, that he didn't notice when Kurt teleported into his room at four.  
"Scott! Ve're going to be late!"  
Scott looked up at the German mutant before turning his eyes to his clock. His eyes widened behind his glasses. He quickly got up, not bothering to put his book away, and grabbed his keys.  
"Alright, let's go."  
Kurt nodded, smiling. He placed an arm around Scott's shoulders and 'ported them into Scott's car. Scott quickly turned on the ignition, opened the garage door with a remote, and sped off towards the airport.  
  
At the airport in Bayville, Denise had just stepped into the lobby area. Her mother soon followed.  
"Dear, we'll be taking a taxi to our new home," her mother didn't get to finish though. Denise cut her off.  
"Mom? Do you mind if I take a look around town? I'll be home before dark and I have my own money for a cab. Please?"  
"Oh, alright dear, but remember, your curfew is one, since it's Saturday."  
Denise smiled. "Thanks Mom! Love ya, bye!" With that, Denise ran off, her duffle bag still slung over her left shoulder.  
Denise had grown tired of searching the airport for a boy with ruby quartz glasses. She was outside, sitting on the curb, just about to give up and go check out the city, when a red sports car flew into the parking lot. Sure enough, in the driver's seat, was a boy wearing ruby quartz glasses. In the passenger seat was another boy, who she assumed was Kurt. He parked two spaces down from where she sat. She stood up, not waiting for him to kill the engine. She calmly walked over to the car.  
"Hey, you two willin' to give a girl a ride?"  
"We can't right now. We're looking for someone," Scott stated, reaching to open the door after he killed the engine.  
"Vesuvius," she replied, grabbing his hand before it touched the knob. She saw Kurt tense up from the corner of her eyes. Scott frowned, reaching for his glasses with his free hand.  
"What does a volcano in Italy have to do with anything?"  
She smiled. "That's my codename." She released Scott's hand, taking off her army tags and showing them to him. "The name's Denise Saylors, but you can call me Dee. Vesuvius is my codename."  
Kurt smiled as Scott sighed. "Vell, velcome to Bayville Dee!"  
She smiled, hopping in the back of the car. "Alright, Scottie. Let's go!"  
Scott started his car once more, backing out of the parking space. "Scottie?" he questioned.  
"Sorry, used to givin' people nicknames. It's like a habit."  
Scott started towards the Institute. Kurt, instead of having to turn around and talk to her, teleported into the backseat, putting his seatbelt on after he did so.  
"So, is it safe to assume your powers have somezing to do vith volcanoes?"  
Denise smiled. So, Kurt was a teleporter. "Actually, I can create volcanic eruptions."  
"Cool! If you didn't notice, I'm a teleporter. Scott's powers are a little complicated to explain."  
"That's alright. He can show me later."  
They soon pulled into the garage and climbed out of the car. Scott and Kurt led Denise into the Institute and to the Professor.  
"Man, this place is huge!"  
When they reached the Professor's study, all three heard a command to enter in their heads. 'Please, come in.'  
"Ah! What was that?!"  
"Relax," Kurt said, grinning. "It vas just ze Professor."  
All three teenagers walked in to see Xavier sitting behind his desk, Logan and Ororo standing to his left and Hank to his right.  
"Please, come in and sit down, Denise."  
Denise nodded towards the Professor as she sat down in one of the chairs across from him. She saw Scott sit in the chair by hers and noticed Kurt stand between the two chairs. She relaxed a little.  
"As you know, this is a School for Gifted Youngsters, such as yourself. Now, what is it that you can do?"  
"I can cause volcanic eruptions and manipulate and control lava. I'm also able withstand immense heat."  
"Very well then, do you mind if I look into your mind?"  
Denise shook her head as Xavier rolled over to her. "Naw, go ahead."  
Xavier nodded, placing his hands on either side of Denise's head. "Now, relax."  
As she did, Xavier saw everything from her early childhood and up. After receiving what he was looking for, he placed his hands on the arms of his wheelchair.  
"Kurt, would you mind showing Denise?"  
Everyone in the room turned towards Kurt as he smiled a bit nervously. "I'll show her." After a few minutes, he reached down and messed with his watch. He then became the fuzzy teen he truly was. He closed his eyes, waiting for her to scream. Only, that's not what she did.  
"Whoa," Denise stated, a little breathlessly. She stood up and walked over to Kurt, who had opened his eyes. She reached out to touch his ears, then grinned. "Awesome! You're so cool!"  
Scott and Kurt glanced at the Professor who was smiling. Kurt turned back toward Denise, who was intently watching his tail swish back and forth.  
"Is that real?"  
He nodded, his tail coming forward slightly. "As real as it can get."  
"Dude, that's awesome." She grinned. "Now I can call you Fuzzy. That way, if I call you by your name, you'll know it's important."  
"Vhy aren't you scared?"  
"I lived in L.A., Fuzzy. Not much can scare you after living in that town. Besides, why would I be scared?"  
"Because, I look like a demon."  
"Well, whoever told you that obviously don't have good taste, because I think it's cute." She grinned again as he blushed slightly.  
"Well, what would you like to do, Denise?"  
She turned towards the Professor. "Well, how about I come here after school and on the weekends? That way, I can still live with Mom and Dad."  
"Alright then, Logan will be your instructor. Ororo will help some of the time and the students will help when they can. Hank is our medical staff, incase you get hurt."  
"Uh, yeah, 'bout that. I tend to pass out and get blisters on my hands if I over exert my powers."  
Xavier nodded. "Very well then. Hank will be on stand by when you are here."  
Denise nodded, turning to Kurt and Scott. "Well, I don't have to be home until one in the morning, so what now?"  
"Vhy don't ve introduce you to the others?"  
"Everyone except Kitty is here. She's out on a date."  
Kurt nodded. He then placed his hands on Scott and Denise's shoulders, 'porting them away with a familiar 'bamf'.  
Logan growled. "I don't know about this Charles. She smells like Alvers in a way, but their scents are slightly different."  
"That's because she is related to Lance, Logan. We have no choice, though. After what I've seen in that girl's mind, she needs all the help we can give. She doesn't appear to know that Lance lives here in Bayville as well. If she did, I'm certain she would've turned to him first. If she becomes close to the other students, I fear she will not be able to choose between the Brotherhood or the X Men."  
"I just hope we can trust her," Logan growled. 


	2. Meeting The Other X Men

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alright, here's the long awaited second chapter. Sorry I didn't update sooner, I had writer's block and I had too much school work. If anyone would like to see anything happen in this fic, just e-mail me at angelxfromxhell@yahoo.com and tell me, I'll try to fit it in. Also, the pairings will be as follows: Kurt/OC, Lancitty, Amaray, Rahm, Jubby, slight Lororo, maybe some Tonda, Pietro/Tabby/OC, which eventually becomes Tabby/OC and one-sided Tabitro. Most of the new recruits have short scenes because I only know how they act in other author's fics. I've never really heard Rahne or Sam's accents either. So, if anyone wishes to help me out, please do.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution, although I wish I did.  
  
Kinda didn't have that last chapter.Hehe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kurt had teleported them into the kitchen, where Evan sat drinking a glass of milk. He looked a little bummed about something.  
"What's wrong, Evan?" Scott asked, concerned for his teammate's well- being.  
"Nothing. It's just that I asked this girl at school out, but she said no. She said she didn't associate with muties. Can you believe that, man?"  
"Man, zat sucks."  
"Yeah."  
"Now, why would any girl say no to ya? You're kinda cute, in a bleach blonde sorta way."  
At the unfamiliar female voice, Evan's head shot up. He blushed slightly when he saw Denise standing beside Kurt. "Uh, thanks, I guess. Who are you?"  
"Name's Denise Saylors, but everyone calls me Dee." She held out her hand.  
"Evan Daniels," he replied, shaking her hand.  
"We were just showing Denise around the Institute. She'll be joining our training sessions after school and on the weekends. She's not moving in, yet."  
"Oh, that's cool. Well, I'm going to cram for my English test."  
Evan placed his empty glass in the sink and headed for his room. As he left, Jean came in. She smiled at Scott and opened her mouth to say something, when she saw Denise.  
"Are you a new recruit?"  
"Not fully. Name's Denise, but call me Dee. I'ma be training with you guys after school and on the weekends, but I ain't livin' here."  
"Oh. I'm Jean Grey." Jean shook Denise's hand and quickly turned to Scott. "Scott, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"  
"Yeah, I'd be happy to."  
"Great!"  
Jean dragged Scott out of the kitchen, going on about what dress he thought she should wear to her date with Duncan on Monday. Kurt sighed and Denise glared.  
"Did she just drag him off to help her get ready for a date with some other guy?!"  
"Ja. She always does zat. I don't like it, but Scott's head over heels for her."  
"Man, he's got it bad."  
"You're tellin' meh. It makes me sick seeing him act lahke that around her."  
Denise looked over to the girl who had just walked in. She smiled slightly, sensing some deeper reason for the girl not liking the way Scott acts around Jean.  
"Zat's mien schwester, Rogue. She has a zing for Scott."  
"Ah don't lahke Scott! Not anymore." Kurt smiled as he notice Rogue wasn't objecting to his comment on them being siblings.  
"Vhatever you say. By ze vay, zis is Denise. She'll be training vith us at times."  
"You ain't livin' heah?"  
"Naw, I'm gonna stay with my folks. They probably wouldn't let me stay here anyways."  
Rogue just nodded, like she understood. Kurt began leading Denise out of the kitchen. Denise waved to Rogue before the kitchen door closed softly.  
"Where we going now, Fuzzy?"  
"Ve're going to see Bobby and Jubilee. Zey should be in Bobby's room."  
When they reached Bobby's door, Kurt knocked twice before 'porting Denise and himself inside. Sure enough, the two teens were there, competing against each other on the new video game they had bought the day before.  
"Hey guys, I vant to introduce you to Dee."  
They both looked at her after Bobby paused the game.  
"Hey, I'm Bobby. This is my best bud, Jubilee, but I call her Jubes. Nice ta meet ya."  
"Are you Kurt's new girlfriend?" Jubilee asked.  
"I thought Kurt was going with that Amanda girl."  
"She broke up with him. Heard she's going with some jock now."  
"Oh, sorry man."  
"It's okay. And Dee isn't mien girlfriend. She's going to be training vith us, but she von't live here."  
"Cool. I guess we'll see you later then."  
"Bye."  
"Later," Denise said before being 'ported away. She and Kurt were now standing in the Institute's back yard, where Sam was playing Frisbee with Rahne. Rahne morphed back into her human form as she and Sam walked over to Kurt and Denise.  
"Hey guys. Zis is Dee. Dee zis is Sam and Rahne."  
"Hey," Sam said. "New recruit?"  
"Not exactly. I'm just joining training sessions with ya for now. I'm still livin' at home with the parentals."  
"Oh, it was nice meeting you," Rahne said, smiling. She tugged on Sam's sleeve a little impatiently as she ran off, morphing into her wolf form again. Sam looked towards Rahne almost wistfully, before waving to them and running after her, tossing her the Frisbee once again.  
Denise smiled slightly, knowing by that wistful look that the southern boy had feelings for the Scottish girl. She felt Kurt take her hand as they 'ported once again. They ended up in the recreation room, to find Roberto, Ray, Amara, and Jamie. Roberto had gotten Ray a little ticked by flirting with Amara, who was trying her best to ignore Roberto. Jamie just sat on the couch watching, trying not to get bumped. Kurt smiled slightly, shaking his head.  
"Calm down, Ray. Ve don't vant an encore performance to last veek's show."  
Ray growled slightly, but calmed down as well. He remembered the last time Roberto had gotten him riled up. The television, VCR, and DVD player had to be replaced after he had caused them to blow a fuse.  
"Hey, who's this?" Jamie asked excitedly, pointing towards Denise.  
"Zis is Denise. She'll be training vith us at times, but she von't be living here."  
"Wow. Nice to meet you. I'm Amara. That's Jamie on the couch."  
"And I'm Roberto."  
Denise smiled and looked at each one carefully. Her eyes landed on Ray. "You gotta temper?"  
"Yeah, what's it to ya?!"  
"Nothin'. I got one myself. Isn't too pleasant when I loose it either. One thing I've learned though. Never let egotisticals rile ya. That makes their egos grow."  
Ray smiled slightly, looking at Roberto as he replied," Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."  
Roberto glared, first at Ray, then at Denise. Jamie giggled slightly and Amara smiled.  
"Vell, zat's everyone who's here. Kitty's still out with Lance," Kurt said as he started to lead her towards the danger room.  
Denise stopped dead in her tracks. 'He just said Lance. Does that mean he's here?' She smiled and continued following him when he turned around to frown at her, wondering why she was taking so long. 'Naw, he probably meant a different Lance. After all, that name's quite popular.' When they arrived at the danger room, Logan was waiting outside.  
"Chuck wants me to give you a test run."  
"By herself?"  
"No, you'll be joining her, Elf. Show her where to suit up."  
"Uh, I brought my own outfit, if you don't mind. Made it the night after the accident," Denise stated, holding up her duffel bag.  
"Fine," Logan said, going to get the danger room warmed up.  
Kurt showed Denise were the female dressing room was and then went into the male's. Denise quickly changed into her baggy, black leather pants, white tank top covered by a black leather jacket, black combat boots and black leather gloves. She stepped out of the dressing room to find Kurt in his regular uniform. They headed into the danger room together. As soon as they were ready, they heard Logan's voice over the loud speaker.  
"Alright, in this stimulation, you'll be going up against the Acolytes, Be careful."  
They both nodded as the stimulation began. Gambit charged up a few cards, tossing them towards Kurt, who dodged them using his acrobatic skills. Pyro snuck up behind Denise while Sabertooth distracted her, sending a mountain of flames her way. She smirked as the flames didn't effect her much and clenched her fist. Her eyes began to change colors, as if lava itself was flowing through them. The ground started shaking lightly and suddenly, Pyro and Sabertooth were running from flowing lava. Denise's eyes returned to normal as she stopped her attack, feeling a bit weak. Kurt 'bamf'ed behind her, supporting her while she got her wits back. They would have been history if Kurt hadn't teleported them out of the way of Gambit's charged cards.  
"Alright you two. That's good enough for now," Logan said over the intercom.  
"Vell, you did good for your first Logan session, alzough he vent a bit easy on you."  
"Hmm, that was easy?! Can't wait to see what kind of challenge hard'll be!"  
"You're actually excited about zis?"  
"Yeah!" She saw Logan walking up to them. "When's the next session?"  
"Tomorrow morning."  
She nodded. "Cool, I'ma go change back real quick."  
After she ran off, Kurt turned to face Logan.  
"Vell, how vas she?"  
"She did alright, although she needs more training on using her powers. I saw how weak she got."  
"Ja. Vell, I still have zings to show her. Later."  
As Kurt teleported away, Logan looked towards where Denise had run. He shook his head as he headed for the garage. He needed to think.  
At the dressing room, Denise had just walked out in her normal clothes when Kurt teleported out. He smiled at her.  
"Vhere do you vant to go now?"  
"Um. Any place I haven't seen that's really amazing?"  
Kurt grinned as he grabbed her hand. Soon, Denise found herself standing before a jet. It was amazing.  
"Wow!"  
"Zis is ze X-Jet. Also known as ze Blackbird."  
Denise couldn't help but stare. She was imagining herself flying the jet before her. She knew it must be awesome to be behind the wheel of that thing.  
"Will I get to learn how to fly it?"  
"I'm not sure yet. Ve'll have to ask ze Prof."  
"That's cool. Man! You guys are so lucky!"  
Kurt's smile fell as he looked down at his image inducer. "Ja. Real lucky."  
Denise looked over at Kurt hearing the depressed edge to his voice. She looked towards the inducer he wore. She began to wonder why he didn't like the way he looked, but was brought back to reality when she heard Scott's voice.  
"Hey, Kurt. The Professor wants to see you real quick. I'll take Denise to the foyer where she can wait for you."  
Kurt nodded and teleported away. Denise followed Scott when he motioned for her to. She was quiet for a while, but then her curiosity got the better of her.  
"Why does Kurt hide behind his image inducer? Everyone knows about mutants."  
Scott looked taken aback by the boldness she showed. He looked down for a minute before looking at her.  
"Well, he's kind of self-concious about the way he looks. He seems to think that he looks like a demon."  
"Oh, okay."  
They both looked down after that. After getting her settled in the foyer, Scott went back to helping Jean, although Denise tried to get him to stay and talk to her. She sighed and having nothing else to do, put on her headphones. She began listening to Matchbox Twenty's Unwell. She started thinking about everything that was going on. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone come in. She turned off her player and looked up to find the white-haired woman from earlier standing there.  
"Denise, do you mind if I talk to you for a little while?"  
"No Ma'am. Go ahead."  
"You may call me Miss Munroe, child. I was wondering why you decided to come to us."  
"Well, I heard about this place on the news, ya know? So I thought I'd check it out. Besides, my parents wouldn't understand and I don't know where my cousin is."  
"Is your cousin a mutant?"  
"Yeah. That's why he stopped talkin' to me. Said my family wouldn't understand."  
"What do you think of the Institute so far?"  
"It's actually quite nice. Not too much goin' on here. Not as big as my old school, so I probably won't get that lost. Most of the students here are cool."  
"If you had to move in here, would you request a roommate?"  
"Naw, but I ain't sharin' a room with Red."  
Ororo smiled slightly. "Alright, we shall give you your own room if you decide to join us. I must remind you, even if you do join us, it is not permanent. You may leave whenever you see fit."  
"Alright, that sounds good."  
"I must go tend to my plants now. Good-bye."  
"Bye," Denise called as Ororo left. She was about to put her headphones back on when Kurt came into the room. "Hey Fuzzy. What's goin' on?"  
"Nozing much."  
"What'd he talk to ya 'bout?"  
"Mien parents. He vants to invite zem to stay here for ze holidays zis year."  
"Ah. So, where we going now?"  
Kurt looked at his watch. It read 9:30 PM. "Vell, ve could go outside and vait for Keety to get here. She should be home soon."  
"Let's go!"  
Instead of teleporting, they decided to walk. Once they reached the outside, Denise told Kurt about her boot camp adventures, then proceeded to show him a few self defense moves.  
"I can't believe you can defend yourself like zat!"  
"Well, I did live in L.A. Had to defend myself against everyone."  
"Zat's true. Vhat vas it like zere?"  
"It wasn't all that bad. When you sat on my roof, though, you could see the prettiest sunset ever."  
They didn't say anything for a while and soon heard the sound of a car coming. They looked up to see a beaten up looking jeep coming towards the Institute. Kurt smiled. Kurt and Denise walked over to the gate to greet Kitty and her friend. Kurt waited until the jeep came to a complete stop. As the two occupants stepped out of the jeep, Denise tried to get a good look at the driver. It was impossible though. It was too dark at the moment, considering it was now ten.  
"Keety, zis is Denise. Dee, zis is Keety," Kurt said as the brunette stepped through the gate, dragging her companion with her.  
"Heya Kitty."  
"Like, hi!"  
"Who's that?" Denise asked, not the least bit shocked that they had just stepped through a solid fence.  
"Oh, zis is Keety's boyfriend."  
Denise saw Kurt glare at the boy as he came close enough for her to see his face. Her eyes widened in shock.  
"Denise, this is, like," Kitty began, but Denise interrupted her.  
"Lance."  
Lance stared back at Denise. "Dee, what are you doin' here?!" 


	3. Relations Are Uncovered

Alright, this will either be a Romy or a Rovan. I haven't decided yet. I need a few more OCs, but not too many more. I'm thinking of adding the first OC, which will be my bro's, in the next chapter. His char's bio will be on my profile page thing soon. The other couplings are on the second chapter author's note thingy.. Anyways, I guess that's it. Oh! I'd like to thank my three reviewers so far. IceBlueRose, Im4everagt, and the anonymous reviewer. Thanks you guys!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"You know him?" Kurt asked, looking at Denise.  
"Of course I know Lancey-boy. We go way back."  
"Are you, like, his ex-girlfriend?" Kitty asked, glaring at Lance a bit.  
"No!! I don't do the incest thing, honey."  
"Incest?" Kurt asked.  
"Lance is my cousin."  
"You're related to him?!" Kurt asked, a bit surprised.  
Denise looked confused. Why was that a bad thing? She looked at Lance, who was glaring at Kurt. She turned to look at Kurt, who'd moved to stand beside Kitty. Kitty was glad Denise wasn't an ex-girlfriend of Lance's, but she was disappointed in Kurt's reaction. The door to the mansion opened to reveal Logan.  
"The Professor wants you all to come into the foyer, including you Alvers."  
"I would've come even if I wasn't invited," Lance stated as he followed the other three inside. He noticed the confused look in Denise's eyes, so he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
When they entered the foyer, they noticed everyone was there. Kurt went to stand by Scott while Kitty, Lance and Denise stood by the door. The Professor sat in his wheelchair, facing everyone. Logan and Ororo stood to his left and Hank stood to his right.  
"Everyone, calm down. I have called you all here to discuss something very important."  
"What's Alvers doing here?" Scott asked, glaring from behind his shades.  
"Scott. Please allow me to explain," Xavier stated strictly. He was rather glad Lance hadn't started a verbal fight with his oldest student, but he knew the only reason he hadn't was because of Denise. "Lance is here because Denise is his cousin, and I felt he should be here when we discuss this."  
This announcement brought upon many reactions. Scott looked shocked for a split second before he crossed his arms and looked away. Jean glared at Denise, hatred obvious in her gaze. Kurt didn't really do anything besides look down at his feet. Rogue looked surprised, but quickly recovered and looked around to see everyone else's reactions. Bobby and Ray both tensed up, getting ready to fight if the need be. Rahne growled slightly, but calmed down when Sam put his hand on her shoulder. Roberto glared at her, then at Lance, as if they had planned this. Jubilee simply stood behind Bobby, ready to back him up if she needed to. Evan didn't really hate her, but he was skeptical about trusting her. The only two who didn't automatically hate Denise by this revelation were Sam and Amara.  
"You two planned this didn't you?! You planned to sneak into the mansion and surprise us when you defeated us?!" Scott accused, speaking before thinking like he usually did when something involved Lance.  
Amara and Sam saw the confused look that fluttered across Denise's face as Lance came to her defense.  
"Why don't you shove it, Summers?! Denise didn't even know I was in this town. She hasn't heard from me in three years!!"  
"Likely story!!"  
"Scott!! Lance!! Please stop this non-sense!" Xavier yelled, causing everyone to look at him. "I have already checked Denise's memory. Lance is telling the truth. She did not know he was in this town. I'm sure if she had, she would have turned to him first."  
"We can't trust her, Professor!" Scott said a little too harshly. "She's not one of us."  
At this, Denise's eyes filled with tears. Lance had been ready to respond when he saw this. His cousin hadn't cried since she was seven, nearly ten years ago. Kitty's eyes had widened as she looked at Scott. Everyone else but four people nodded in agreement. Sam and Amara stepped away from the crowd, causing Rahne and Ray to glance at them. Sam's eyes met Rahne's and she saw something akin to disappointment in his eyes. Ray turned to Amara, ready to get her support, only to find her staring at him in disbelief. She may be a princess, but she wasn't cold-hearted. Evan's eyes widened at what Scott had said. He may not like the Brotherhood, but this girl wasn't part of the Brotherhood yet. To him, she was actually pretty cool. Kurt looked up to see the tears spill over Denise's eyelids. He quickly turned away, only to meet the fiery gaze of Rogue. Before anyone could say anything, Denise turned and ran out of the room. Everyone soon heard the front door slam shut.  
Lance turned to glare at Scott. "What the hell did you do that for?! Do you realize that she hasn't done that since she was seven!!" The ground began to shake violently as Lance's temper continued to rise.  
"Lance, please calm down," Xavier said, trying to calm the boy through telepathy as well.  
"Get out of my mind, Baldy!!"  
"Lance," a soft voice to his right said. "Please calm down. She may need you."  
He turned to look at Kitty as he halted the earthquake he was causing. He turned to glare at Scott, who looked quite shocked.  
"Scott, you had no right to say that. I am very disappointed in all of you. Except, of course, for Kitty, Sam, and Amara. Now, I wish for all of you to go to your rooms. I will allow Logan to decide your punishment."  
Everyone groaned as they headed for their rooms. Logan had a devious smirk on his face. Ororo looked towards the door before going to make sure the students went straight to their rooms. She watched as Rogue shoved her way past Kurt and Evan, who were taking their time getting to their room. She watched Kurt's head hang as Rogue muttered something and Evan quickened his pace to walk along side the goth.  
Sam and Amara headed towards their rooms, even though the Professor said they didn't have to. They didn't talk to anyone as they did so.  
Xavier turned to Logan. "Find her, she may be in danger if her emotions flare too much. Lance and Kitty, I need you to stay here in case she comes back. I will try locating her with cerebro."  
Logan was already out the door, so Lance and Kitty just nodded heading for the recreation room. Xavier then headed for the room cerebro was in.  
Logan was sniffing around outside about two miles away from the mansion when someone else's scent drifted towards him. He knew the elf was close by, but he decided to let him think he didn't. He sniffed the air again and caught on to the girl's scent. He began making his way towards where her scent was coming from. He found her leaning against a tree in the park. No one else was around because it was late. He noticed something blue appear in the tree above her, but she didn't seem to notice. She'd stopped crying, but she didn't look any happier.  
"Hey, kid. You okay?"  
She looked up at him. "I'm fine. Why'd you come?"  
"The Professor sent me to.," Logan began, she cut him off though.  
"I wasn't talking to you. I figured the Professor sent you. I'm talking to Fuzzy."  
Both Logan and Kurt blinked as Kurt dropped out of the tree to land beside her.  
"I vanted to make sure you vere alright."  
"Yeah, well, you didn't seem to care back there. Why don't you guys just leave me alone?"  
"I'm sorry. I acted on impulse. I'm not used to congregating vith ze enemy."  
"Damn it, Fuzzy!! I'm not the enemy!! I never was!! What are you talking about?!"  
"Lance isn't on our side. He's part of the Brozerhood. A bad guy."  
"A bad guy? My god, I bet you guys didn't even give him half a chance. Lance isn't a bad guy. Not when you know him like I do."  
"Why don't you come back with us, kid? We'll get this straightened out at the Institute."  
"Fine, but I ain't staying there. Not after everyone was so quick to judge me." She stood up and dusted herself off. She turned to glare at Kurt. "Not after my first and only friends in this town ditched me because of my relations."  
Kurt's head hung once again. He placed his hand on Logan's shoulder, then on Denise's, even though she didn't look thrilled about it. He took them all the way back to the mansion in a few short teleports, then quickly went to his room. Lance and Kitty came out of the recreation room just in time to see Kurt disappear in a puff of blue smoke.  
"Dee, are you alright?" Lance asked, truly concerned for his cousin's safety. He ran over to scoop her up in a hug.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Denise said, hugging him back. He truly was a good guy deep down. He just got involved in the wrong crowds.  
Kitty smiled as she watched Lance release his cousin from the hug. She walked over to the two.  
"I'm sorry about how the others reacted. They were being way too immature."  
Denise smiled, hugging the other girl, who hugged her back. She whispered in Kitty's ear, "Take care of my cousin. He can be a bit reckless at times."  
"I promise," Kitty whispered back before she pulled away from the hug. Lance was staring at his girlfriend, because she hadn't said the word like once during the whole ordeal.  
"Alright Half-pint. Off to bed."  
Kitty nodded, giving Lance a quick kiss on the cheek before bounding up the stairs. At the top, she turned to look down at the three. She smiled before disappearing down the hallway.  
Xavier came up beside Logan as the two teens turned to face him.  
"I am terribly sorry about this, Denise. If you still wish to come here for training, I will arrange private sessions for you if you'd like."  
"That'd be nice. I think I'll go home tonight, though. Lance can take me."  
"Alright. I will tell Kitty to give you the details Monday at school. If you wish to come in tomorrow, just call."  
"I will," Denise said as she followed Lance out the door.  
From his balcony, Kurt watched her climb into the passenger seat. Evan stood beside him, leaning against the railing.  
"Man, she was pretty cool for a girl."  
"Ja. She didn't freak out vhen she saw ze real me."  
"She'll probably join the Brotherhood now, man. I mean, would you come back here."  
Kurt sighed and shook his head. "No." One of the few girls to actually show interest in him and he turned on her in two seconds.  
Evan gave Kurt a sidelong glance before turning to leave. "Night, man." With that, he shut the door to Kurt's room softly.  
"Ja. Night," Kurt said as he got ready for bed. As he turned off his lights, bright green eyes intently watched from below.  
"You ready?" Lance said, turning to face his cousin.  
She tore her gaze away from where Evan and Kurt had been and sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be. Can I just go to wherever you're staying? I'll call Mom and Dad and tell them I'm staying the night with you."  
"They might not let you. After all, I hadn't seen you in a while."  
Denise pulled out her cell phone she had placed in her pocket. "Man, I'll have to go get my bag tomorrow. And trust me, they'll let me." She quickly dialed her mom's cell phone number before Lance could say anything else. It rang three times before someone picked up. "Hey Mom, guess who I found? Lance. Yeah, I'ma stay with him tonight. I told you he probably got caught up doin' somethin'. You know he moved around a lot. We will. Okay. Love ya, too. Laterz." She ended the call and placed her cell phone back in her pocket.  
"You didn't tell them about what I said?"  
"Naw, I knew they'd flip er something."  
Lance smiled as he shook his head, pulling out of the Institute's driveway. A few, silent minutes later, he pulled up at the boarding house.  
"You live here?"  
"Guess I should've told you. I live with the Brotherhood, the X Men's arch-enemies."  
"Yea, that's what they said. Oh well, where do I sleep?"  
"You could either have my room or see if Wanda will let you bunk up with her. Might wanna take my room."  
"Why?"  
"Wanda ain't exactly the nicest person in the world."  
"I'll ask her. Rather sleep in a girl's room than yours anyway. How many girls live here?"  
"Just Wanda. Tabitha used to live here, but she left when the boss came back."  
"The boss?"  
"Mystique. She looks like a woman, but there's no telling," he whispered to her. She giggled slightly as they climbed out of the jeep. They entered to find Fred sitting on the couch eating a sandwich. Pietro was zipping around, but came to a complete stop when he saw Denise. Todd was standing beside Wanda in the kitchen door, both looking at the two.  
"Who's this? New girlfriend?" Pietro asked in his usual fast tone.  
"Naw, this is my cousin, Denise. Denise, that's Pietro, Todd, Wanda, and Freddy."  
"Hey, call me Dee," she said looking at them all one by one. Her gaze fell on the girl in the kitchen door. "Wanda? I really hate to intrude, but seeing as there are four guys, mind if I share your room for the night?"  
Wanda looked over at Denise. She was about to say something when Todd butted in.  
"What about our plans for tonight snookums?"  
Wanda glared at him. "We don't have any plans!!"  
Denise sighed. "Hey Lance? Can you make a little crack in the ground real quick?"  
"I can try." He caused a small quake, resulting in one thin crack beside the couch. "What do you need that for?"  
She smiled. "This," she stated as her eyes changed colors. Lava slowly poured from the crack and then formed a small dome around Todd. "Pietro, water please?"  
Pietro nodded before dashing off to get a bucket of water. He quickly poured about five buckets on the dome before it hardened. Todd could be heard inside, yelling to let him out.  
"He has enough air supply for one night," Denise said as she stumbled back into Lance. He helped keep her standing. "How about that offer?"  
Wanda blinked looking at the dome beside her. She smiled slightly. "Sure, as long as Toad stays in there, you can stay in my room."  
"Thanks. Lance, you mind helpin' me up the stairs?"  
Lance shook his head as he let Denise lean against him. As they made their way up the steps, Wanda following, Pietro and Fred continued to stare at the dome holding Todd. When they reached Wanda's room, Wanda took Denise from Lance, helping her into the room. Denise had enough energy to make a pallet on the floor with some extra blankets before she passed out on them. Wanda had given her one of her pillows, so that she wouldn't get an ache in her neck. As Wanda got ready for bed, she wondered if this girl would become a friend or foe.  
Meanwhile, Lance was busy thinking about the events that happened that night. He'd dropped Kitty off from the perfect date only to find his cousin there. He was glad to see her again, but couldn't figure out why she was there until a disturbing thought had crossed his mind. His cousin was a mutant and her parents probably weren't handling it well. He'd have to talk to her in the morning. He rolled over and turned off his lamp, falling into a dreamless slumber.  
Todd had stopped yelling for help and decided to get some sleep after hearing Pietro and Fred go to their rooms. Fred was in his room eating a snack before going to sleep and Pietro had already climbed under his covers. He fell asleep rather quickly, his dreams filled with blonde haired, hazel eyed kleptos. Todd's dreams were filled with none other than Wanda being nice to him and returning his feelings. Fred dreamed about food, like usual. Wanda dreamed about a happy childhood she never had.  
Denise's dreams, on the other hand, were filled with chaos and confusion. She didn't know who to trust anymore. She awoke in the middle of the night, sweating and scared. She drew her knees to her chest and hugged them. She knew her parents wouldn't stand beside her if they knew she wanted to control her powers. She knew she'd be alone if she lost Lance. But those things weren't what had scared her. In her dream, she'd been walking with all her friends. She'd lost control of her powers, killing them all, even herself. They all had blamed her. She was truly alone then. She had killed them because of a lack of control.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alright, things may seem rushed, but they aren't. Kurt isn't falling for Denise yet, he just feels bad for turning against her before hearing her out. Looks like Scott's rubbing off on him. Denise's dream shows her fear of killing those she cares about because she can't control her powers. The next chapter will explain why. Sorry for holding that off, I didn't mean to, but the story just flowed. There was implied Tabitro in this chapter, but I couldn't help myself. Read & Review Please!! 


	4. A New Brotherhood Member

Well, here's the fourth chapter. The fifth will be up soon. I'm sorry, but I'm no longer taking OCs. I have enough as it is. I'm only going to be able to pick a few because everyone seems to want the same guy. So, I'm going to put everyone's name in a hat and draw out which characters are going to be put in my story. I received one male OC, so I'm definitely going to keep him. The couples I placed in previous chapters may change. The definite ones are Lance/Kitty, Logan/Ororo, Sam/Rahne, and Rogue/Evan. The other couples depend on which OCs get picked. I may need a guy for Amara, but I'll figure that out by the next chapter. Um, I think that's all. Sorry for boring you. Oh! If I missed something you noticed, tell me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After an hour or so, Denise finally fell back to sleep. No more dreams came to her, though. When she awoke at eight, she was thankful of that. She quietly made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. She didn't find anything she wanted to risk eating, so she grabbed the hammer out from under the sink. As carefully and quietly as possible, she demolished the dome around Todd. How he slept through it, she'd never understand. After that task was complete, she sat down and began to watch cartoons. After about thirty minutes, the front door slammed open, revealing a blue lady with red hair and cold yellow eyes. She glared at Denise and Todd, who woke up when the door hit the wall.  
"What is going on here?! And who are you?!"  
"Name's Denise. You must be the boss lady. Mystique is it? I'm Lance's cousin."  
Mystique glared once again before shouting. "Pietro, Lance, Fred!! Get down here!!! You too, Wanda!!"  
Pietro was down in a flash, fully dressed. Lance came down a few minutes later, followed by Fred, both also fully dressed. Wanda came down last wearing her normal outfit without the coat.  
"I understand we have a new recruit," Mystique said, nodding towards Denise.  
"No! Denise won't be your pawn!" Lance yelled, wide awake now.  
"It's okay, Lance. I can handle it."  
Lance was about to argue with Denise when her eyes changed color and the ground beneath his feet became rather hot. "Fine. You can join the team. But you can leave anytime you want." The ground cooled down and Denise's eyes returned normal.  
"It seems she's a mutant also. Good. Her powers may be of use to us." Mystique began pacing the room, after the group had formed a line. "Magneto has a new assignment for you. You are to go to Germany and pick up a new recruit. He doubts Xavier's goody goodies will get in the way. They don't know about him yet."  
"Great, another guy."  
Mystique glared at Denise. "There's a jet waiting for you at the construction site. Go now!"  
"I get to drive!" Denise said, snatching Lance's keys and running outside. Everyone heard the jeep start so they all headed outside. Lance climbed into the passenger seat while Todd, Wanda, and Fred climbed in the back. "Looks like you gotta run Speedy. See ya there!" As the jeep took off, Pietro smirked. In a blur, he was gone. After meeting up in front of the jet, they decided that Pietro and Wanda should pilot the jet. They all got on, Denise and Lance quickly strapped themselves into their seats, and began their journey. It didn't take as long as a regular flight would, considering they had a jet instead of a plane. After they had landed in Germany, Denise and Lance rushed off the plane. Pietro came out next, followed by Todd, Wanda, and Fred.  
"Alright, I guess we just look around until we find the guy," Pietro said, his tone as fast as usual.  
"Whatever. Man, I wish there was a beach here. I could get some major surfin' done," Denise said, grabbing Todd by the shirt. "Come on, Toddy. You're in my group. I'ma teach ya how ta treat a lady."  
"Really?" Todd asked once Denise had let his shirt go, allowing him to walk on his own.  
"Yeah," Denise said as they disappeared.  
"Wanda, you'll be paired with me," Pietro started to say.  
"I don't think so. I'll go with Lance. Blob will go with you."  
She didn't give her brother time to answer. She just began to walk off. Lance shrugged and quickly followed her. Pietro sighed.  
"Blob, stay here and guard the jet." With that said, he sped off in a bluish white blur.  
Fred just sighed. "Man, I'm glad I brought some snacks." He pulled a pic nic basket out from under the seat he'd been sitting in and began to eat while he waited.  
Meanwhile, Denise and Todd were walking through a small town they had stumbled upon.  
"So, chicks don't dig that kinda thing?"  
"Naw! You gotta be yourself. Don't call us pet names all the time, or shower us in gifts to win our affections. You might wanna clean up more often. Brush your teeth at least three times a day. And take a bath more than twice a week."  
"That'll get Wanda to like me, yo?"  
"It's a start. Um, how are we supposed to find this guy?"  
"Beats me, yo."  
Denise nodded. "If I knew his name, this would be so much easier."  
"How so?"  
"I took German in my last school. I could ask around. But I don't want to look stupid."  
Todd nodded and they walked off, searching once again.  
Lance and Wanda were walking around the same small town, unaware of the fact that Denise and Todd were near.  
"How do we find this guy?"  
"I don't know."  
"Man, Mystique could've at least given us some details about the guy."  
Wanda didn't say anything, she just scanned the crowd around them. She saw a guy with white hair that fell to mid back. It was short and spiked up in the back, and messily laid down in the front. She watched him for a moment, but she dismissed the thought that he was the one they were looking for.  
Pietro zipped around another small two not too far away. After a while, he realized he didn't know what the guy he was looking for looked like. He sighed as he ran back to the first town he'd come across earlier, hoping the others were still there. He came to a stop by a two story house when his cell phone rang.  
"Hello, Pietro Maximoff at your service," he answered.  
"Pietro, have you found the boy yet," his father's voice greeted him.  
"Uh, hi dad. Um, we haven't found him yet. Mystique didn't give us any details, really."  
"The boy's name is Adolf Ookami Wolff. His hair is white."  
"Alright, I'll find him, bye dad," Pietro replied. He heard the phone on the other end click and knew his father had hung up. He pushed end and put his cell phone back in his pocket. He spotted Lance and Wanda and ran over to them.  
"Hey guys, the guy's name is Adolf Ookami Wolff. He has white hair."  
Wanda's eyes widened as she turned to look towards the guy she'd seen earlier. He wasn't there, though. "He was over there just a second ago."  
Lance and Pietro looked over to where Wanda was pointing. They began scanning the area for him.  
"Hey! There's a guy with white hair!" Lance said, pointing to the guy Wanda had seen earlier. He was walking down an empty alley way.  
"Let's go." Pietro said, taking off. Wanda and Lance followed as fast as they could.  
They finally reached the end of the alley, where Pietro was waiting impatiently. He was tapping his foot, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.  
"Man, you guys are really slow! Come on, he headed into that clearing over there," he said, taking off again. Once again, Wanda and Lance followed. When they reached the small clearing, they noticed Denise and Todd were there as well.  
Pietro was standing about five feet away from the white haired boy. "Hey you! We've have an offer for you."  
The boy glared at Pietro before raising his hand to point it towards Pietro. In the blink of an eye, Pietro was gone.  
"What did you do to Pietro, yo?!" Todd asked, hopping towards the boy. The boy's hand moved to face Todd and just like Pietro, he disappeared.  
Denise had been standing beside Todd. She decided to stay where she was for the time being. "Lance! Quakage time!"  
"Got it!"  
Lance stuck his hands out and allowed his eyes to roll back slightly as the ground began to shake. A huge crack formed in the ground between Denise and the boy. The earth stopped shaking.  
"He's all yours, Dee."  
Denise smirked as she watched the boy's facial expression. "Try making this disappear, Whitey!"  
Her eyes began to change colors as she held her hands out in front of her. An orangish glow came from the crack in the ground. Lava began to flow from the crack as Denise raised her hands slightly. The lava flowed around the boy before forming a dome around him.  
"You gonna cooperate now!" Denise yelled through the dome lava she'd made, although she was a little weak.  
"Yeah, why not," the boy replied and she released the dome.  
She just about fell backwards, but she stabled herself. She saw Lance looking at her with concerned eyes, but she just gave him a thumbs up sign. She turned back to the boy they were supposed to recruit.  
"So, what is it you do, anyway?"  
"Teleport things."  
"Gotta name? I'm Denise, but I'm called Dee. That's Lance and Wanda. The white haired guy was Pietro and the hopping person was Todd."  
"Adolf Ookami Wolff."  
"Okay, I know the first part's German for wolf, the last part sounds like wolf, so I'm assuming the middle is wolf too?"  
He nodded. "It's Japanese."  
"You half 'n half?"  
"My foster father was half-Japanese, half-Caucasian, my foster mother was German."  
"Fosters?"  
"I don't know my real parents. I was adopted from an orphanage shortly after I turned one."  
"Oh, well, 'Tro was right. We kind of do have an offer for ya." He raised an eyebrow at Denise. "Ya see, we're in the Brotherhood of Mutants."  
"Evil Mutants," Pietro interrupted, having returned.  
Denise rolled her eyes. "Shush 'Tro, I'm talkin'. Anyways, we're in the Brotherhood of Mutants," she pointedly glared at Pietro. "And we're looking for new members. You seem to qualify I guess, cuz da boss lady said to get ya. You wanna join?"  
The boy seemed to consider the offer. "Okay, I'll join. Maybe it might be fun, but I request my own room."  
Pietro was about to protest when Wanda spoke before him. "Okay, you can have Pietro's old room." She turned and started towards the jet, Pietro following and whining.  
Denise looked at Lance. "Man, I hate flying."  
"I hear ya," Lance replied.  
The two started walking off before Denise turned to Adolf. She motioned for him to follow. He walked a few feet behind them. When they reached the jet, his eyes widened at the sight of Fred.  
"Oh, that's Freddy. He won't hurt ya as long as you don't laugh at him," Denise whispered. He nodded. He waited until everyone else had bordered the jet before he got on. He sat in the back by himself and watched the others. Denise had put her headphones on and began listening to one of her CDs. Lance was clutching the armrests with his eyes tightly shut. Pietro and Wanda were in the pilots' seats, arguing over why Pietro was going to bunk with Lance from now on. Fred was eating out of the pic nic basket he had brought with him and Todd was just sitting in his chair looking very bored. The ride back didn't take that long, but by the way Lance ran off the jet, it would seem to an innocent bystander that it took an eternity. Denise stepped out after her cousin, glad that she wasn't high up in the air anymore. Pietro ran out and all the way home to clean out his old room, even though he wasn't happy about it. Wanda was smirking as she stepped off, Todd following close behind her. Fred squeezed out of the jet and climbed into the back of Lance's jeep. Todd and Wanda both climbed in as Adolf stepped off the jet. He squeezed in the back while Lance got in the driver's seat, taking his keys from Denise. She climbed into the passenger seat, pouting.  
"Sorry Dee, but I gotta go somewhere after I drop you guys off."  
"You got another date with Kitty?" Todd asked.  
"No! I need to stop by the mall to see if they have her present ready."  
"Present?"  
"Yeah. Two days from now will be our anniversary of getting back together."  
"Oh, how sweet," Todd said, mimicking a girl's voice.  
"Hey, could you drop me by the Institute. I left my bag there."  
Lance nodded. "You goin' home tonight?"  
Denise sighed and thought about it. "Yeah, I gotta get ready for school Monday."  
"I got kicked out."  
"For what?"  
"Mutant hating principal."  
"He sounds like a major jerk."  
"Yeah, I guess."  
When they arrived at the boarding house, Todd, Wanda, Adolf, and Fred piled out. Wanda, Todd, and Fred waved by to Denise, who waved back.  
"See you guys later! Don't have too much fun without me!"  
Fred and Todd smiled and Wanda seemed to smirk slightly. Denise turned to look at Adolf, who was looking at the house with an emotionless expression.  
"It's not so bad. Okay, maybe it is, but don't let that get to ya."  
With that said, Lance drove off towards the Xavier Institute. He dropped Denise off at the gate. "I'll be back in a little while to get you. Just wait by the gate, okay?"  
"Okay, see ya then."  
She hopped out and closed her eyes, concentrating. 'I hope this works,' she thought to herself. 'Hey Prof," she said, projecting her thoughts. 'Sorry I didn't call, I got a little busy. I left my bag in there though. I'm standing right outside the gate.'  
'It's okay, Denise. I'll have Logan open the gate, just stay where you are.'  
'Okay.'  
She turned towards Lance. "Go ahead, he's sendin' someone out."  
Lance nodded before driving off. Denise stood outside the gates for about ten more minutes before Logan showed up.  
"Sorry it took so long, kid. I ran into some trouble with the new recruits."  
"It's okay."  
She knew he was watching her carefully as he opened the gate. She sighed, causing him to raise an eyebrow.  
"I'm not gonna do anything. Just because we're on the wrong side at the moment doesn't mean we don't have feelings."  
"We?"  
"Me and Lance. Maybe some of the others. We just didn't know where to turn to. And you guys certainly didn't welcome us with open arms. Yeah, I know you did welcome me at first, but what happened when Lance was revealed as my cousin. You all automatically labeled me as a bad guy. Lance may seem like a delinquent, but if you went through what he has, you would seem that way to. So, tell me, what's holdin' you to the side of good."  
Logan opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it again. He smirked slightly. "You got a point there, Spunky. Tell ya what, you prove to me that you and the Brotherhood are really worth trusting and I'll tell ya what keeps me in this place."  
Denise smiled. "You got a deal." She stuck her hand out and Logan shook it firmly. "Well, I'ma go inside and find my bag, you know where it is?"  
"Half-pint said something about the elf putting it somewhere. Ask him."  
Denise nodded, not really wanting to have to talk to anybody. She'd have to sometime, though, so she might as well get it over with. She started inside as Logan continued his patrol of the grounds. When she entered, she bumped into Jamie, causing four other Jamies to appear as he fell to the floor.  
"Oh, I'm sorry Jamie!! I didn't mean to hit you!" Denise apologized as she helped all five of them up.  
"It's okay," one of them said. "Are you here for your bag?" She nodded. "Follow me," he said after collecting his clones. He took her hand and began to lead her upstairs. They stopped in front of a door in the boys' wing. Denise ran the mansion's layout through her mind. Her eyes widened when she realized who's room it was. Kurt Wagner's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cliffy!! Sorry about that!! Chappy five will be up shortly, I promise!! Okay, review response time!!  
  
Doctor What - We have a slight problem. If James can't get the hook up with Tabby, would you prefer someone else? I will give him a small relationship with her, but I promised my brother Tabby before I asked for OCs. But if I write another story, and I will, I promise to give you dibbs on Tabby, okay? I'm sorry you couldn't bag her in this one. Well, I might let you have her in this one, depends on if my bro's nice to me, kay?  
  
Rogue 102 - Thank you for sending in your character!! If she doesn't make it, I'm sorry. It's based on who my grandma pulls out of the hat.  
  
White Vampire - Thanks for the vote! Rovan it is. Also, thank you for sending in your char.  
  
Holly Rose E - First off, thanks for all the reviews. In the first chapter, I was also thinkin' 'Beam me up Scottie' as I wrote. I'm glad you liked her response to Kurt. Her mom is trusting, and since they don't live in L.A. anymore, she thinks it's alright for Dee to walk around. She knows her daughter can handle herself. She flirts with Evan some to boost his confidence. Worry none, Denise will do plenty of Jean bashing. Thanks for submitting Darcy.Well, thanks for all your reviews and whatnot, and here's an update for ya!!  
  
BaronOBeefDip - Thanks for submitting a char and good luck!!  
  
yesim@-flamesofeternaldarkness - I thank you for submitting your char and good luck!!  
  
To the anonymous reviewer 'um.ur story is great so far' - Thank you!! Thanks for submitting the char and good luck!!  
  
And again I would like to thank my first two reviewers. Im4everagt and IceBlueRose! Thanks guys. Yeah, I know I suck at this. My muses are hiding from me at the moment, so yeah. Well, R&R, please!! 


	5. All Choices Have Been Made

Hey all! I told you the fifth chapter would be up soon!! So here it is! Also, I realized I forgot to ask which group you would like to be in. Because I'm weird like that. Anyways, the couples have been set. Lance/Kitty, Logan/Ororo, Evan/Rogue, Sam/Rahne, Amara/Ray, Kurt/Denise, Adolf/Wanda, James/Tabitha, Amber/St John,Darcy/Scott, Ryka/Todd, Yesima/Remy, Christina/Bobby, and Jennifer/Pietro. The first five couples are the only ones that don't have OCs in them, so that's who won. Sorry if you didn't.  
  
Lance was walking through the mall with an excited grin plastered on his face. He'd just picked up Kitty's gift and couldn't wait until Tuesday. He hoped she'd like it. He was heading back to his jeep when he heard a familiar voice.  
"Lance? Is that you?"  
He looked up to see a petite woman about five foot four standing in front of him. She had dark brown hair and bright green eyes. She was rather thin. He smiled slightly.  
"Hey Aunt Michelle. Yeah, it's me."  
Her eyes brightened. "Adam! Come over here! You'll never guess who I ran into!" She had turned around to talk to someone behind her. She turned back towards Lance. "And please dear, call me Aunt Mikki. Michelle makes me feel so old.  
A man about a good foot taller than her appeared at her side. He had dirty blonde hair and sky dark green eyes. "Well, hello there, boy. How've you been?"  
"I've been alright, I guess."  
"We see you've escaped that horrid foster home that wouldn't allow you to contact us," Michelle said.  
"Yeah, I live with some friends now," he replied. 'Thanks for the save, Denny-girl,' he thought to himself.  
"Where's Denise at?" Michelle asked, trying to look for her daughter around Lance.  
"She's not here. She's at the house hangin' out with Wanda. Don't worry, I'll get her home soon."  
"Alright. Remember you're always welcome at our house."  
"I will Aunt Mikki."  
"Are you going to pick Denise up for school in the morning?" Adam asked.  
"I got expelled. The principal didn't like the kind of person I am, I guess."  
Adam's brows furrowed together. "Well, I'll call the school tonight and see what I can do."  
Lance smiled a bit nervously. "Okay, thanks Uncle Adam."  
"We'll see you later, dear!" Michelle called as they walked away.  
Lance sighed. If Principal Kelly told them he was a mutant, they wouldn't let him see Denise ever again. He hoped everything would be alright.  
  
"Well, you gonna knock?" Jamie asked.  
"Yeah, thanks for showin' me where it was."  
"You're welcome," he replied, beaming brightly. "See you later!" He waved and ran off down the hall.  
She lifted her hand, then dropped it to her side. She sighed and raised it once more, knocking firmly. She heard Kurt say, "Coming!" from the other side of the door, so she waited patiently. When the door opened, pale yellow collided with emerald green.  
"Dee?"  
"Hey Fuzzy. I'm here to get my bag."  
"Oh, come in zen."  
He held the door open wide enough for her to enter. She walked in looking around and sat down at his desk. She looked down at the half finished math homework as he closed the door.  
"I hope I didn't disturb ya."  
"Nien. I vas just trying to figure it out."  
He walked over to his closet and began digging in the top. Denise turned her attention towards the math paper on the desk. She smiled when she realized that she knew how to do it. She heard Kurt mumbling some things in German, but didn't really pay attention. She grabbed the nearest clean sheet of paper and began writing down the steps needed to solve the problem. Her handwriting was straight and neat, not bubbly like most girls.  
"I found it!" she heard Kurt exclaim as he came over to her, holding her bag. "You know how to do zis stuff?"  
She looked up, finally realizing that she had been doing his homework. "Uh, yeah. Math is a passion of mine. It's really simple, actually. Want me to show ya?"  
Kurt's face brightened as he sat the bag down beside the chair. "Ja! Let me got get another chair." He 'ported away and Denise continued writing. He was back in a few seconds with a chair from the dining room. He sat it down beside Denise's chair. He grabbed a clean sheet of paper and another pen.  
"Vhat's first?"  
"Alright, follow these steps and I'll tell you if you're doin' anything wrong, 'kay?"  
"Okay, I'll give it a try."  
He began working through the steps Denise had written down. He only messed up a few times, but Denise stopped him before he got too into the problem to fix it. In a few minutes, he had all his homework done.  
"Vielen Dank! That was getting rather annoying."  
She smiled as she stood up, picking up her bag. "Told ya there was nothin' to it."  
"Um, Denise? About how I acted yesterday. I feel really bad about it. I guess I've been hangin' around Scott a little too much."  
"It's okay, Fuzzy. I kinda understand what you were goin' through. So, I'll tell ya what, help me find my way around school, and we'll almost be even."  
"Almost?"  
"Yeah, you gotta help me prove Lance and the others can be trusted. Well, most of the others."  
"I'll try my best."  
"Alright then, you got a deal." She stuck her hand out and he shook it firmly. "See you in school Fuzzy."  
"Ja, see you zen."  
She walked over to the door and opened it. She stepped out into the hall and waved bye before shutting the door. She looked down at her watch and her eyes widened. 'Please don't let Lance be outside waiting,' she prayed. She ran down the hall, noticing Evan coming out of his room right before she reached the steps.  
"Evan! Let me borrow your skate board real quick! I won't break it, I promise."  
"Okay, when will you give it back?"  
"Tomorrow at school."  
He nodded and tossed it to her right when she got to the steps. She jumped up and stuck the board under her feet right before hitting the stair rail. She heard Evan shouting that that was totally awesome as she grinded down the rail, landing on the floor in the foyer. She mentally cursed herself for not thinking ahead to the fact that the door was closed. She was about to smash into it when it opened to reveal Jean. Jean barely had time to get out of the way before Denise plowed her down. Denise smirked as she skated down the sidewalk to the gate. Sure enough, Lance was waiting. The gate opened, probably by someone on the inside.  
"Where were you?"  
"Tutoring somebody," she replied, hopping off the board as it slowed to a stop. She picked it up and walked through the open gate. She placed the skate board in the back of the jeep and hopped in the passenger side. "Onward to my house, good sir."  
"As you wish, ma'am. That would be on what street?"  
She laughed as she gave him her address. When he took off, she turned around to look at the mansion. She saw Logan on the porch glaring at her, with Evan, Kitty, and Kurt beside him. The three teens were trying to keep from laughing, though. She shrugged her shoulders, then blew a kiss for dramatic effect. She laughed when she saw Logan smirk a tiny bit. She turned around to find Lance looking at her.  
"What was that about?"  
She hitched her thumb towards the skate board. "Kinda grinded the stair railing back there. When I realized it was so late, I got in a rush."  
"Like you usually do," he accused.  
She grinned. "You know me way too well, Lance Alvers."  
"I have to. It's my job as an older cousin."  
She smiled. "You mean, the brother I never had."  
Lance smiled. "Yeah, something like that." He then remembered what had happened at the mall. "Your dad said that he was gonna call the principal to try and get me back in school. Can you see if he can get the others in?"  
"Sure, no prob." She noticed he wanted to say something else. "Afraid he'll tell Dad you're a mutant?"  
Lance nodded. "thanks for covering for me." When she gave him a quizzical look, he sighed. "When you told them the foster home I was in wouldn't let me contact you guys."  
"It wasn't a problem. You're my cousin. I didn't want to loose ya, ya know? When I discovered my powers, I realized that must've been why you didn't want to come back. I knew my parents would flip, I had seen their reactions to the news broadcast."  
"You mean, the one Kitty was on?" She nodded. "Denise, how did they find out?"  
"I was invited to a school dance by this guy named Kyle. He was really popular and I was surprised and somewhat excited that he had invited me. I got all dressed up and everything. Everything was goin' fine until he got onstage and announced that he was only with me because he lost a bet with his friends. I was pissed. You remember my best friend, Drew?" At his nod, she continued. "He was there. He asked me what was wrong with my eyes, but I wasn't paying attention. The ground built up and then lava finally pushed through. I remember feeling like something was calling to me or I was calling to it, I couldn't figure it out at first. It flowed towards Kyle and his buddies. The gym went up in flames from the heat of the lava. Kyle and his friends were injured some, but no one was killed. Drew helped me outside, telling me I reminded him of a volcano he'd learned about called Vesuvius. His parents snatched him away, saying he didn't need to hang around a mutie. I passed out after that and awoke in the hospital. My back hurt like hell. The nurse told me I would have a scar for the rest of my life. I needed quite a lot of stitches. Mom and Dad made plans to move here to get away from all the controversy."  
"Why here?"  
"Don't you remember? This is where mom and Uncle Tony grew up."  
At the mention of his father, Lance tensed, but soon relaxed. He pulled up to Denise's house and turned off the engine. He reached over to hug his cousin, smiling a little when she returned it.  
"It's okay, Denny-girl. I promise I'll always be there for you. Even if no one else is."  
She smiled, though she had tears brimming her eyelids. He hadn't called her Denny-girl since she was little. "Thanks Lance. You're the best cousin a girl could have."  
"Call me when your folks get an answer on the school thing, alright?"  
"You know I will." She blinked back the tears and hopped out, grabbing the skate board and her bag. She waved as she ran up to the front door. When she was in and he was sure she was safe, Lance drove away.  
  
At the Brotherhood house, Adolf was in his room, staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about the other occupants of the house. Todd was quite annoying, but he could tolerate him. Fred was rather hard to ignore, but Adolf managed. Pietro was an egocentric who's ego rivaled his own. Lance was alright as far as company goes. Wanda was an unusual girl, but he found her kind of pretty. Denise was happy and hyper, but he had no problems with her. He sighed as he prepared for another sleepless night. Hopefully there was an all night coffee shop around here somewhere.  
Todd was down stairs waiting for Lance to get home so he could see what he got Kitty. Maybe if he took some tips from Lance, he could get Wanda to return his feelings. He then remembered what Denise had said and sighed, hopping up the stairs. He entered his room and glanced around before hopping into bed. He wasn't really tired, but he decided to go to sleep anyways.  
Wanda had long since gone to bed and Pietro was once again talking on his cell phone. This time he was talking to Remy Lebeau, one of his father's Acolytes. Remy Lebeau and St John Allerdyce would be coming to stay with the Brotherhood for a while, due to some feuds between them and Sabertooth. After getting all the details, he hung up and turned out his lights. He went to sleep once again dreaming of blonde kleptos.  
Fred was heading up to his room when Lance came in. He merely waved and kept walking. He was rather tired and didn't really want to converse with anyone. Lance honored Fred's wishes and headed for his own room after grabbing the house phone. He entered and shut the door behind him. After placing Kitty's gift in a special place, he got ready for bed. He sat the phone on his nightstand and waited.  
Denise was waiting for an answer in her room, which was once again on the second story. Her mom had been able to keep her job, dispite the move and was already planning another trip away from home. She heard her dad yelling, so she snuck out of her room to see what was going on. She saw her parents in the den.  
"I don't care what kind of person my nephew is, Principal Kelly! I want you to allow him and his friends back into the school! Do you understand me?"  
He stopped talking for a while, before he grinned at both Denise and Michelle, giving them a thumbs up. Denise jumped up and down quietly.  
"Thank you, sir," he said, then hung up. "Well, Dee, everyone living with your cousin has permission to enroll, although we are not allowed to enroll them."  
"I can handle that, Daddy. Thank you so much! By the way, what kind of person did he say Lance was?"  
"I don't know. I didn't let him finish. It sounded like he was about to say menace, but even menaces deserve an education.  
"I gotta call Lance and tell him the good news."  
With that, Denise ran back up to her room, where she had her own phone line. She quickly dialed the number Lance had given her and waited. He picked up on the third ring.  
"Hello?" he asked.  
"Hey Lance! It's Dee. You and everyone living with you is back in school! I gotta make one more phone call, but I'm sure it's in the bag. You gonna pick me up?"  
"Uh, the jeep'll be kinda full. Can you arrange a ride with Scott?"  
"I thought he was your arch-enemy?"  
"Yeah, well, I trust Kitty, and she always rides with Scott."  
"Alright, just show up tomorrow, 'kay?"  
"Yeah, see you then. Bye."  
"Later!"  
She hung up and quickly dialed another number. This time she had to wait until the fifth ring.  
"Hello, Xavier Institute," Scott's voice rang through.  
"Hey, Scottie. I know you don't think you can trust me, but can I get a ride to school in the mornin'?"  
Scott sighed. "Yeah, you can. And I'm sorry about what I said. I tend to overreact when it comes to things involving Alvers."  
"It's alright. Can I talk with the Prof?"  
"Yeah, here he is."  
She only had to wait for a few seconds.  
"Hello, Denise."  
"Hey Prof. Sorry about the stair railing. Promise to never do it again."  
"It's quite alright. Now why are you calling?"  
"Well, the principal will allow the Brotherhood back into school, but my parents can only enroll Lance. Can you help out?"  
"Sure. I'll make a few calls tonight."  
"Thanks Prof. Later."  
"Good-bye, Denise."  
She hung up and grinned like a chesire cat. This was great. She quickly got ready for bed and turned off her lights. Tonight as she slept, she dreamed about her first day in a new school.  
  
Adolf was now walking around town, having snuck out of the boarding house, as to not wake anyone up. He'd found one all night coffee shop and bought him some coffee. He was used to loosing sleep, since his step father used to beat him. His mother would try to help, but she'd end up getting hit too. He did miss his mother, but she was gone. Not in the since of she was on vacation or she'd up and left. His mother had been beat to death by his step father, which is why a hatred of the man runs deep within his veins. As he walked, he thought back to his new home. He didn't know exactly why these people wanted him in their little group, but he couldn't wait to find out. Maybe he'd even get to let off some steam in a rumble soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Was that bad or good? I gotta go, people are getting frustrated with me. 


	6. Dee's First Day of School at Bayville

Woo hoo! The sixth chapter! I sure have been on a writing spree lately. My fingers are all cramped up. Anyways, since I can't think one anything else to say, on with the story!!  
  
Disclaimer: -A brunette walks out.- She doesn't own anything but Denise. Although she would like to own a certain fuzzy blue dude. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kurt teleported into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet. He grabbed the Cocoa Puffs and poured some into his bowl. He quickly grabbed the milk out of the fridge. After pouring some on his cereal, he handed it to Evan. Scott and Jean walked in and stopped dead in their tracks.  
"Uh, what's the occasion?" Both boys turned to give Scott a quizzical look. "You're a little early."  
"Dee has my skateboard, man. I need to get it back first thing."  
"I offered to be Dee's tour guide. Show her to her classes and everything."  
Scott's eyes widened behind his shades. "I almost forgot! We gotta go pick her up, and I forgot to get her address!"  
He was about to rush out of the room, but everyone else decided to come in at that moment. Professor Xavier wheeled in and smiled. He held a sheet of paper out to Scott.  
"I figured Denies forgot to mention where she lived, so I took the liberty of finding out. Here is her address."  
"Thanks Professor," Scott said, taking the piece of paper.  
"Scott!" Jean exclaimed after the Professor left. "How could you offer her a ride?!"  
"Oh come on. She's not that bad, Jean. Besides, Kurt, Kitty, and Evan like her."  
Jean just glared as she sat down. In a few minutes, Kurt and Evan were sitting in the back of Scott's car. Kitty was going to ride with Jean, who had just got a brand new Taurus, so that Denise would have a place to sit. Scott took off as soon as Rogue got in the front. They pulled up at Denise's house. Scott honked and a few minutes later, Denise ran outside, followed by her mother. She sighed when she reached the car, handing Evan his skateboard.  
"Guys, this is my mom. Mom, this is Scott, Rogue, Evan, and Kurt. Can I go now?"  
Her mother smiled. "My name's Michelle," She said, holding her hand out for everyone to shake it. Scott, Evan, and Rogue did with no problem. Denise noticed it was Kurt's turn. Before her mother could do anything, she hopped in between Kurt and Evan.  
"Sorry, Mom, but we gotta run. Shake Kurt's hand later."  
As Scott drove off, her mother waved. Kurt let out a relieved sigh and was about to thank her when she held up her hands.  
"Don't worry about it Fuzzy. She'd flip if she knew what I could do." She noticed Rogue was rather quiet, but she kept glancing behind Scott, where Evan sat. She leaned forward. "Whatcha lookin' at?"  
Rogue turned to glare at her before turnin' back around, but a small smile tugged at her lips. Denise shrugged and leaned back. Her book bag was down by her feet. The rest of the ride was remotely quiet. When they arrived at school, Scott parked beside a familiar beat up jeep.  
"When did the Brotherhood get permission to come back?" Scott asked no one in particular.  
"Well, my dad found out about them bein' expelled, so he got them back in. Please just try and get along with them."  
Scott thought about this for a minute and sighed, nodding his head. "Okay, we'll try."  
"Hey Daniels! You're no longer the fastest in the school. If you ever were, that is," Pietro said a bit cockily as he sped over to them.  
"Shush 'Tro. We're gonna try to get along, got it?"  
"And what if I don't want to try?"  
He realized he'd made a mistake when Denise's eyes changed colors and the ground beneath his feet began to grow quite warm.  
"Alright! I'll try!"  
She grinned and her eyes returned to normal and the ground cooled down. "Good."  
She turned to look at the rest of the Brotherhood members. She noticed that Adolf wasn't there. She frowned when she remembered that she had forgotten to mention him. Lance must've read her expression.  
"It's okay, Dee. The Professor said he was going to arrange it when he called this mornin'."  
She sighed. "Okay." She saw Wanda standing in the back of the group. "Hey Wanda, how's it goin'?"  
Wanda looked over at Denise and glared. She soon dropped the glare when she realized Denise wasn't fazed by it. "Fine."  
Denise smiled. She turned her attention to the school when the bell rang. She sighed. Her first day at Bayville. She hoped it went well.  
"Do you need help findin' classes Dee?" Lance asked.  
"Naw, I recruited a guide last night," she replied, hiking a thumb towards Kurt. "Thanks though. You'd better go. Don't want to be late on your first day back."  
Lance and the others waved as they headed for their classes. Pietro waited until he saw a blonde girl enter the school. He grinned and ran after her. Scott and Rogue waved before heading their own ways. Denise turned towards Kurt and Evan.  
"Who's gonna be my escort inside?" she asked, smiling widely.  
Kurt and Evan just shrugged. Denise sighed and looped her arms through both of theirs, walking in between them. They began towards the school. When they got inside, everyone turned to looked at them.  
"There's the girl that blew me off, man," Evan said, pointing to a short red-head.  
Denise smirked as she giggled slighty. Evan and Kurt looked at her before apparently catching on. They smiled at each other.  
"You know, Dee. I think you'll like it here."  
"Well, thanks to you two, I'm sure I will. By the way, Evan, who was that gorgeous girl I saw you chattin' with yesterday?"  
"Oh, it was no one," he replied, faking embarrassment.  
"I don't zink it vas no one," Kurt said, watching as the girl looked towards the trio.  
"Well, she did ask me out on a date," Evan said, grinning.  
"You go boy! That's my bleach blonde!" Denise exclaimed, patting Evan on the back.  
As they walked away, the girl looked at Evan regretfully. Evan's class came up, so they dropped him off and headed for the office. Denise needed to pick up her schedule and locker. She'd get her books during her classes. When they entered the office, Principal Kelly glared at Kurt.  
"I'm here to get my schedule."  
He turned to Denise, handing her a sheet of paper. "I would suggest against hanging out with that thing, Miss Saylors. It could harm you in more ways than one."  
"And why's that?" she asked, tilting her head to the right.  
"He's a mutie. An abomination in the eyes of the Lord!"  
"He looks completely normal to me."  
"They all look normal, but they aren't."  
She smirked. She knew he would say that. "Than how do we know you yourself aren't one?"  
"That's preposterous!"  
"Is it? You could be afraid of what they'll do to you if you are. You could hide your true identity behind the façade that you hate mutants, but in truth, be one yourself. You're just afraid they'll destroy you. Isn't that right, Principal Barbie?"  
"It's Kelly! And that is not the case! Now get to class!"  
She waved as she looped her arm through Kurt's once more and walked out. Kurt couldn't help but laugh once they were out.  
"Zat vas priceless! Especially ze end!" he exclaimed after he'd halted his laughing fit.  
"Glad ya liked it. Now, do you have any of these classes?" she asked, showing him her schedule.  
"Ja! In fact, ve have all but two classes togezer."  
"Great! Do I know anyone in the classes we don't share?"  
Kurt smiled. "Ja. Evan's in one and Rogue's in one.." They made it to first period just before the tardy bell rang. The teacher asked Kurt to take his seat before quieting the class.  
"Everyone, I would like you to welcome Denise Saylors to Bayville. She moved here all the way from Los Angeles, California. Denise, why don't you sit in the empty desk beside Kurt seeing as you already know him."  
Denise smiled and nodded as she made her way towards her newly assigned desk. As she passed a brown headed boy, he pretended to sneeze while saying freak. She acted as if she hadn't heard him. She sat down and took a spiral out of her bag. She caught him glaring and glared right back, her eyes turning colors before settling back to their original color. He turned away quickly and Denise giggled slightly.  
"Dee, don't use your powers in school. You'll get expelled," he whispered.  
"Don't worry, Fuzzy. I was just making a point. Besides, he can't prove that my eyes changed colors," she whispered back.  
The first few classes went by rather fast and when lunch rolled around, Denise found herself in quite a dilemma. The Brotherhood and the X- Men sat on opposites sides of the lunch room. She looked between each group as she held the lunch her mother had made for her the night before. Finally, Scott smiled at Denise before walking over to the Brotherhood table.  
"Hey, you guys. Since this is Denise's first day, can we sit at the same table for once? Just one time, then she can alternate."  
Lance was about to tell Scott off, but he caught the confused look on Denise's face. He sighed, "Fine. But this is the only time Summers. And don't think I've forgivin' you for what you did."  
"Fair's fair," Scott replied before walking back to his table.  
The Brotherhood members got up and walked over to a table near the X- Men's. They slid it over, joining the two. Denise smiled gratefully and sat down between Lance and Evan. Beside Evan sat Kurt, Rogue, and Scott. Jena had gone off to sit with someone else. Beside Lance sat, Todd, Wanda, Fred, and Pietro.  
"Thanks you guys. I'll work something out, I promise."  
"Why don't you alternate?" Lance asked.  
Denise's smile brightly. "That's a great idea. How'd you come up with it?"  
"I didn't." he muttered. "Summers did."  
Denise was about to say something when a blonde haired girl walked up and sat down beside Pietro. "Hey guys, who's the new girl?"  
"I'm Denise, but everyone calls me Dee."  
"Tabitha," the blonde replied, shaking Denise's outstretched hand. "So, who's new girlfriend is she? She can't be Richter Scale's because she looks too much like him. Little sister, Lance?"  
"Cousin. And she's no one's girlfriend," Lance growled.  
"Woo hoo!! Then we can go PAR-TAH!!"  
"Tabby! What happened to your job?"  
"Chill out, Pie Pie. I'm off tonight."  
Pietro pouted. He wanted to spend tonight with Tabitha alone. Now he might have to hang out with her and half of Bayville.  
"I can't tonight. I have to practice."  
"Like, practice what, Dee?" Kitty asked.  
"Control. I'ma head over to the abandon warehouse at the edge of town."  
"You want me to go? Help ya along?"  
Denise smiled at her cousin. "Sure, why not. Now let's eat!"  
Everyone watched as she pulled a small, lidded bowl out of her lunch bag. When she opened it, it held a small personal pizza. It was covered in pepperoni and.  
"Shrimp?! Who in the world eats shrimp on their pizza?!" Pietro exclaimed as everyone watched Denise take a bit. She looked at Pietro quizzically. "I guess that answers my question."  
After swallowing her first bite, Denise looked at Pietro once more. "What? You've never tried somethin' different?"  
"Not anything that different."  
Denise shrugged and kept eating. Everyone started eating their own lunches after a few more minutes. About halfway through lunch, Denise felt as though her mind was being probed. She knew the Professor would never do that, so she had to find out if anyone else was a telepath.  
"So, what's everyone's powers? I know Kurt can teleport, Kitty can walk through solid things, and Pietro is really fast, but what about everyone else?"  
"Well, I shoot optic blasts from my eyes, Evan can shoot spikes from his body, which is why he drinks plenty of milk. Rogue can borrow people's powers, memories, and if your human, your life force. And Jena over there is telekinetic and telepathic."  
"I create earthquakes, Fred's unmovable, his weight is part of his mutation, Todd's a Toad, just about, except he can't breathe under water, Wanda hexes things and she can immobilize other mutant powers, and Tabitha creates cherry bombs."  
She nodded. So it was Jean that was probing her mind. She quickly set up mental defenses, something she'd learned from friend. She thought she heard someone hit a table, but she wasn't sure. She was about to ask why Jean wasn't sitting with them when the bell rang.  
"Well, I guess I'll seen you later! Everyone except Rogue, that is."  
Everyone nodded and waved as she headed towards her next class with Rogue. They stopped by their lockers and still made it on time. Denise sat two seats behind Rogue, but that didn't stop her from talking. They passed notes back and forth all through class. The teacher didn't seem to notice.  
As the last bell rang, Denise jumped out of her chair and bolted out of the school. When she got outside, she noticed some guys were picking on Todd. One was blonde and looked like a jock. Her eyes narrowed. She hated jocks. She walked over to them, her head held high.  
"Hey! Leave him alone!"  
The blonde turned around. "Oh, look Darren. The little girl thinks she can make us stop hurting the Toad."  
"Oh! I'm so scared, Duncan. Maybe we should run!" he exclaimed mockingly.  
Denise's temper had been rising all this time. These guys were acting really sexist, and that's one thing you don't do. She'd finally had enough, so she drew her fist back and punched him square in the nose. He cried out as his nose broke and quickly clutched his face in his hands. Denise helped Todd up and he hopped over to where he knew Lance's jeep should be.  
"Lance!" he cried as he saw the rest of the Brotherhood leaning against the jeep. Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue were there as well.  
"What took you so long? And where's Denise?"  
"Duncan and his friends were beating me up when Denise found us. I think she's gonna try to fight them, yo!"  
Lance's eyes widened. "Show me!" He followed Todd as the younger boy showed him where the fight was being held. They got there in time the see two of Duncan's friends holding Denise while Duncan got ready to lay into her.  
"Matthews, leave her alone!" Lance called as soon as they were in earshot. Duncan smirked and drew his fist back. He knew he could get one punch in before they reached him. At least, that's what he thought. Before he could touch Denise, she disappeared in a cloud of orange dust, like Pietro and Todd had when they had first met Adolf. She reappeared beside Lance and the others, who had stopped abruptly when Denise vanished. Adolf stepped into view.  
"I believe he asked you to leave her alone. I suggest you do what you are told."  
"Vho's zat?" Kurt whispered to Denise.  
"The new Brotherhood member. Adolf. He can teleport things," Denise replied quietly.  
"Oh."  
"What are you goin' to do about it?" Duncan asked, smirking. Adolf raised his hand and pointed it towards Duncan.  
"Adolf, don't. Just let me handle this," Lance said, popping his knuckles. He walked over to Duncan and knocked him out before anyone could react. Duncan's friends ran off when they saw that they were outnumbered.  
"Hey, thanks man!" Denise said, waving toward Adolf. He merely nodded, turning to walk away. "Where ya goin'? And where ya been?"  
"Back to the house. That's where I've been all day. I was training."  
She just shrugged as they watched him walk away. Lance walked back over to the group.  
"What were you thinkin', Denise? They could of hurt you really bad! Don't do that again, okay?!"  
Denise glared at her cousin. "I can handle myself, Lance! I'm not little anymore!" She pushed past him and stormed off. He just looked around and sighed. No one said anything. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That was the sixth chapter. Did it suck? Did I rush things? Talk to me, man. I need to know if this story sucks or not. Anyways, review response time! Sorry I didn't get to this part last chapter.  
  
To all my reviewers: You guys are the best. -Wipes away a tear.- Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Doctor What - He's got Tabby in the bag. My brother decided Wanda was a good pairing for his OC, so yeah. Congrats!  
  
Im4everagt - Here's an update for ya! Thanks for saying my story was good and interesting. It might take a few chapters before I add the next OC, but they will all be in here soon! I couldn't have Denise going back to school without Lance there for her to terrorize, so I got her daddy to pull a few strings. I don't have writer's block and hopefully I won't get it. On this story, that is. On 'Secrets Revealed' I have terrible writer's block. I should update soon, don't know how soon though.  
  
Satan's Wittle Hellper - Thanks for saying my story was nice. I type it up in Microsoft works before I post it and everything. I hope that helps, if not, I'm terribly sorry I couldn't. 


	7. Some New Faces

Okay, here's the seventh chapter. It may suck a bit, but I'm terribly sorry. I hope to have the next chapter up soon. The format's kind of messed up but I was having technical difficulties. Sorry.. Next chapter will be better. To those of you who sent your characters in, if I didn't portray them right, do not be afraid to tell me. Also, if you want me to change something involving your character, like what they said or how they acted, rewrite that part of the story and email it to me. I'll gladly do anything to make yas happy. Disclaimer: -Duo walks out grinning.- She doesn't own anyone except Denise. She wouldn't mind owning a few of the Evo Guys, and me, but unfortunately, she can't. -He screeches as Heero yanks him away by his braid.- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Denise continued walking until she realized she was at the Institute. She sighed as she closed her eyes. 'Hey Prof, ya mind if I come in for a little while,' she asked, once again projecting her thoughts.  
'Not at all, I'll send Scott out to let you in.'  
'Thanks a bunch.'  
She only had to wait for about two minutes before she saw Scott walking towards the gate. She smiled when he opened it, but he noticed it wasn't as full as her usual smiles. His brows creased together.  
"Something wrong?"  
She sighed. "Do you mind if I confide in ya a bit, Scottie?"  
He smiled. "No, come on in. We'll talk in my room."  
"Thanks," she said, smiling once again as she followed him inside. As they headed upstairs, Sam quickly made his way over to them.  
"Hey," he said in his southern drawl.  
"Hiya, Sammy. How are ya?"  
"I'm doin' fine, I guess. How are you?"  
"Not as good as I was a few hours ago, but I'll survive."  
Sam frowned slightly. "You wanna talk about it?"  
"I'm kinda already gonna talk about it with Scott, but you can come too, if you want."  
Sam smiled and nodded. "Sure, I could use someone to talk to myself."  
Both Denise and Scott smiled as they continued walking, Sam beside them. When they got to Scott's room, Sam and Denise sat down on the bed while Scott pulled his chair from his desk closer to the bed. He sat backwards on the chair and leaned on the back of it.  
"So, who's going first?" he asked, looking between Sam and Denise.  
"You can go first, Dee," Sam said, using the name he'd been given.  
She smiled and nodded. "Well, you see, Duncan was picking on Todd when I got out of school, and I went to stick up for him. Duncan's friends, Curtis and Darren I think their names were, held me back while Duncan prepared to punch me. I could've handled it just fine, but Lance and the others came running to my rescue. A friend appeared minutes later, helping me out as well. Then Lance punched Duncan and started being really overprotective, like I was a weakling and couldn't protect myself. I know he just looking out for me, but it can get annoying at times."  
"Well, do you know why he does that?"  
Denise nodded and looked up, noticing they were awaiting her continuance. She sighed, not wanting to reveal Lance's past, but wanting to explain why he ended up the way he is.  
"Well, ever since I can remember, Lance has been in foster homes. No one in our family really talks about his parents much, so I don't know what happened to them. Anyways, in a few of the foster homes he was in, the husband would come home drunk and beat on his wife. One of the little girls staying at one of those foster homes got tired of seeing the lady get beat, so she tried to stick up for the lady. The man went into a fit of fury and nearly beat the girl to death. Lance had witnessed the whole thing, having come down for a drink of water. After that, he's been real protective of most girls that are close to him. I don't know how to prove to him that I don't need protection."  
Scott nodded, smiling a bit. He knew he'd do the same if Alex were in that situation. He then frowned, both because of the fact that Duncan had been picking on Todd, and because of the story Denise told him. He was starting to regret his rivalry with the Brotherhood member, but only slightly.  
"I know I would have probably done the same thing if Alex were in your position, but I do agree that if you can fend for yourself, you should at least be given that chance. Why don't you prove that to him sometime?" Scott suggested.  
"Yeah, teach him a thing or two about just how well you can defend yourself," Sam piped in.  
Denise smiled a bit wider than she had before. "Thanks you guys. I'll do just that." She turned towards Sam. "Now, what was it you needed to talk about, Sammy?"  
Sam blushed, hoping they had forgotten he mentioned it. Apparently they hadn't, he realized as he turned to face Scott. He was watching him intently.  
"Well, I like this girl, but I don't know if she likes me," he stated, his accent getting thicker as he became embarrassed. "I'm not sure what to do."  
"Why don't you just tell her? I'm sure she'll understand," Denise said, knowing very well who Sam was talking about.  
Scott nodded. "That sounds like the probable thing to do."  
"I don't know. What if she rejects me? What if she likes another guy? What if.?"  
Denise cut him off. "Calm down, Sam. Look, Halloween's comin' up soon, right?" Both guys nodded. "So, why don't we have a huge celebration over here, I'll get the Brotherhood to behave as long as you guys can get the other X-Men to keep their cool, and you can ask her to that, as a date type thing. How does that sound?"  
Scott frowned slightly. "I'm not sure how this is going to work, but I guess I'm up for it."  
Sam nodded. "Alright, I'll try."  
Denise smiled and gave both guys a quick hug. "Well, I gotta run before the guys get too worried. See you tomorrow at school."  
They both waved as she walked out the door, closing it afterwards. She heard Scott say something about helping Sam out with his pick-up lines and she had to chuckle slightly. She began walking towards the door when she bumped into Logan.  
"Oh, sorry Wolvie. Wasn't payin' attention."  
"Apparently," was the gruff reply.  
"You remember our deal?" At his nod, she smiled. "I'll be proving to you that some people in the Brotherhood can be trusted weekend after next."  
"As soon as ya do, I'll hold up my end of the deal. Got it, Spunky?"  
"Yeah, I deliver first. Got it. See ya later!"  
As she walked off, Logan shook his head. Maybe the girl was right. He'd just have to wait and find out. Denise was making her way down stairs when she ran into Ray.  
"Oh, sorry Ray."  
"It's okay," he said. His terse reply made her feel bad.  
"Look, I know you don't like the Brotherhood and all, but we're not all that bad."  
"We? So, you did join them?"  
"What choice did I have? You all automatically labeled me a member when Lance stepped into the picture."  
"Yeah, well, the Brotherhood haven't been real friendly to us since the beginning."  
"Gee, I wonder why. The supposed 'boss lady' is a pain and looks as though she'd rather kill them rather then help them. They're bein' used by some guy bent on taking over the world. I'd be kinda hostile too, wouldn't you?"  
Ray blinked. "I guess."  
"Look, weekend after next we're havin' a big Halloween party over here. I'm goin' to get the Brotherhood to behave as good as possible. Give 'em a try, please?"  
Ray sighed and nodded. "Fine, but they mess this up, and I'll go back to believin' what I do now."  
Denise smiled. "Thanks, Ray." She started off before turning back towards him. "And remember, don't let egotisticals rile ya. That includes Pietro."  
Ray smiled slightly as he watched Denise walk away. He then headed for his room. Denise had just walked through the open gate and was heading for the boarding house when she saw a van drive through the still open gate and pull into the garage. She shrugged as she continued on her way. Once she reached the boarding house, she opened the door carefully and stepped inside. Fred and Todd were sitting on the couch, Pietro in the chair, and Lance was pacing across the living room. Adolf and Wanda were in their respective rooms and there were two girls standing near the kitchen door that Denise hadn't seen before. Lance stopped pacing and glared at his cousin.  
"Where have you been? I was worried sick!"  
"Lance, calm down. I can defend myself, I'm not helpless. Besides, I was at the Institute. Now, who are they?" she asked politely, nodding towards the two girls.  
Lance blinked before turning to look at the girls, still shocked by the calmness in his cousin's voice. "They're some new recruits Mystique dropped off. The brunette is Ryka Kioku and the other one is Darcy Roibh. Denise noticed the brunette's expression was emotionless. She was about 5'4" and was unusually pale and thin, weighing around 115 pounds. Her short, light brown hair was in a ponytail and her eyes were a yellowish- green color. She was wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, white socks, and red sneakers. The other girl caught Denise's attention when she smiled and waved. To Denise she seemed happy. She had strawberry-blonde hair up in a tight bun, with a few bangs falling into her face. Her eyes were large and pale blue, allowing people to read her like an open book. Her nose was slightly 'buttoned' and was sprinkled very lightly with freckles. Her ears were pierced twice, as was her lip. She wore a willowy earth-toned shirt with flared sleeves that covered the tattoo on her left forearm, a long white skirt, and high-heeled white dress shoes with open toes. Denise smiled.  
"Hi, I'm Denise, but everyone calls me Dee." Lance sighed and looked at his watch. "Come on, Denise. I'll drive you home."  
Denise nodded towards her cousin before turning back to the girls. "I'll see you guys later then."  
"Bye," Darcy said somewhat cheerfully.  
"Later," Ryka replied, her tone matching her emotionless expression.  
"Bye Freddy, Toddie, and 'Tro. Tell Wanda and Adolf I said bye."  
"Bye Denise, see ya tomorrow," Todd said, waving. Fred simply waved and Pietro ignored her, talking on his phone again. She sighed and followed Lance out to his jeep. The drive to her house was quiet and uneventful. She thanked Lance and ran into the house and up to her room, where she looked at her clock. It was eight thirty, so she went ahead and got ready for bed, falling asleep around nine.  
At the Institute, the X-Men were meeting three new recruits. A boy with a somewhat slim yet slightly muscular build was presented first. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a blue t-shirt, cargo pants, and shoes. He stood beside Professor Xavier.  
"Everyone, this is James Jennings. He has the ability to control gravity. He is here because he lacks experience and control." He waved timidly and walked over to sit down kind of away from everyone. The next person to stand beside the Professor was a girl. She had carmel colored hair put into braided pigtails that fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were blue, and she wore a green tank top, jeans, a hooded, zip up, gray sweatshirt, and black high tops.. On the center of her palms, she had small star-shaped scars.  
"This is Amber Mongomery. She has claws that come out of her pinky, middle finger, and her thumb. They are made of a mixture between silver and diamond. She can also shoot spikes made from the same material out of her palms, which is why she has scars there. She also has some psychic ability."  
She waved fairly shyly and went to sit beside James. The last person to stand beside the Professor was a pretty girl who had a short, petite, yet muscular body. She was also very slender. She had wavy, shoulder length, dirty blonde hair that had lighter blonde highlights. Her eyes were sapphire blue, and she wore a bright yellow tank top, black, baggy jeans, and red and black skater sneakers.  
"This is Christina Delacour. Her power is pyrokinetics, like Tabitha's, only her's tend to shake the earth a bit."  
"Hi everyone!"  
Xavier smiled as he introduced his students. He bunked Christina with Amber and gave James his own room, then told all the students it was time for bed. They all groaned, but made their way upstairs anyway.  
At Magneto's base, Remy and Pyro were awaiting the arrival of the new team members. They had canceled their stay at the Brotherhood house do to this, which disappointed Pietro slightly, but not much. The first to arrive was a girl with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a black tank top, black pants, a black choker, a black arm band, and black shadow. Next came another girl, who had medium length hair that seemed to be a brownish- blackish-reddish color. Her eyes kept shifting in between colors, making Remy and Pyro raise an eyebrow. She stood at about 5'2" and was fairly pretty. Her ears were pierced and she wore a red tank top, black jeans, and black boots. Magneto stood behind the girls.  
"This is Yesima," he pointed towards the blonde, "and Jennifer. Yesima's powers are like Gambit's, only she prefers using daggers and they will not explode unless lodged into something. Jennifer has the ability to make solid matter appear in her hand. If she thinks of something, it will appear in her hand. Her eyes also change colors with her moods. I hope you will both show them courtesy. Now, show them around the base and where they will be staying." Both Remy and John nodded as Magneto floated away, leaving them girls with them.  
"Come p'tites. Dere's much to see. By de way, Remy's de name, or Gambit if y' prefer dat better. And dis is John, or Pyro, as everyone prefers."  
John pouted as he followed Remy, the two girls following him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alright, tell me, did that suck or what? Anyways, I'll be awaiting your opinions. Review Responses!!! Yesim@-flamesofeternaldarkness - Yes, your character got Remy. Don't worry about Jean, I have something planned for her. I'm sorry that the kitty scareded you. Hey, my friend is a penguin. Not really but we call him that. Don't know why. -Shrugs.- I just don't like the jocks at my school or on Evolution. They're all spiffy like. I don't dislike all jocks, just the stereotypical kind. I think I've already said thanks, but Thanks again for pickin' Dee. I patiently await your next update.. Due, that rhymed! Sweet! Doctor What - Here's more! Hopefully I didn't mess your charrie up. White Vampire - Thanks for luvin' mah story. Your welcome. I don't like Jean because she seems too perfect. Kinda irks me in a way. I made sure her pigtails were braided. 


	8. Abandoned and Fighting

Hey! I am so terribly sorry it took me so long to update! I've been having major crisis problems, but I won't go into the boring details. Just know it involved the Flu, strep throat, and immense homework. This chapter is dedicated to MoonlightPhoenix3, because she inspired me to begin writing on this again. I will have another chapter up as soon as possible. (It also doesn't help that I can only upload new chapters on my grandma's computer.) Also, if you have submitted a character to me, please tell me what you would like to have them wear as a Halloween costume. If you don't, I'll allow Denise, Tabitha, and Kitty to pick for them. While we're on the subject of OCs, if you have submitted a character and have not reviewed since the said submission, I will have no choice but to kill them off or something of the sort. Again please forgive me for not updating sooner! I love all those who have reviewed, and I hope you keep reviewing! Please don't have deserted me!! I promise I won't do it again!! Or at least I'll try not to!!! The fight scene really sucks, and I'm sorry for that, but I tried to at least say all the character's names and codenames.  
  
Disclaimer: -Denise walks out.- She doesn't own anything but me. The OCs belong to their respective authors. Later! -She walks away.- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Denise once again awoke during the middle of the night. The same dream plagued her as it did the night she'd stayed with Lance. She hopped out of bed and headed down stairs. After glancing at the clock on the living room wall, she noticed her parents weren't going to wake up for about five more hours. She slipped out the front door, quietly shutting it, and headed down the street. She had no idea where she was going, but she just kept walking until she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Adolf standing in front of her. He offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to pull her up.  
"Hey, thanks for helping me back at school."  
"It was no problem. My step father used to hit me. At least he wasn't hitting my mother."  
She sighed and changed the subject. "How do you like living in the boarding house?"  
"It's alright, I guess. It gets fairly too noisy at times, but I don't mind."  
"Is that why you're out?"  
"No. I'm an insomniac. I stopped sleeping out of fear that my father would abuse me in my sleep. Or worse, kill me."  
Denise's eyes widened in shock. "Oh man! Sorry to bring up bad memories!"  
"It's okay. I don't really mind."  
"What do you think about humans hating us?" she asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.  
"I don't really care, but if they mess with me, I can't guarantee they'll live to tell the tale."  
She nodded, but didn't say anything. He started walking and she fell into step beside him. She noticed he was looking at the sidewalk so she turned her gaze towards the stars.  
"I don't think I could ever kill anybody. I mean, I know there was a possibility having to do that back in Cali, but not here. I couldn't do something like that here."  
"You can be too trusting at times."  
Denise glanced at him. "Yeah, probably. But only sometimes. Not all the time."  
Adolf just nodded and this time, when they fell into a silence while walking, it was a comfortable one.  
  
The next day at school, Duncan was watching Denise like a hawk. He and a few of his buddies had decided that the moment she was alone, they would get revenge on her for what she had done to them. This opportunity came to them at lunch, when Denise left the safe circle of friends and had gone outside to sit under a secluded tree. She had wanted to be alone for a while, to e-mail Drew back in L.A. and tell him how everything was going. After turning her laptop on, she began typing. About halfway through her letter, she sat the laptop down beside her to munch on some Doritos for a few minutes. That's when Duncan's friend jumped down out of the tree she had been under. After smashing her laptop and pinning her to the tree, he whistled for the others. Two more jocks came around the tree to help hold her down. Duncan walked up smiling.  
"Now you're little friends aren't here to help ya! How does it feel to be helpless?"  
Denise struggled against the three guys, but she couldn't get loose. She tried every defense move she could remember for this kind of assault, but they countered all of them. Her eyes widened when she saw Duncan's fist flying towards her, brass knuckles adorning his own. He hit her in the stomach, causing her to groan in pain. He pulled his hand back to hit her again, when a branch of the tree wrapped around his raised fist and threw him a few feet away from the others. Duncan's friends were so shocked that they didn't notice a girl hiding behind the tree. The branch tapped each boy on the shoulder, causing them to chase after Duncan, who had scrambled to his feet and run off.  
"Are you okay?" Darcy asked as she stepped beside Denise, looking the girl over. She disliked seeing anyone other than herself inflict pain on someone, so growing slightly tired from using her powers was worth it in this case.  
Denise was holding her stomach, which still hurt from Duncan's punch. "I think I'll be alright." She hissed as she found it was hard to breath. This made it a bit hard to talk. "Thanks, Cee, but you'll probably get in trouble if Kelly finds out. We're not allowed to use our powers in school. We'll get expelled if we're caught using them."  
Darcy just gave Denise a small smile as she helped Denise walk towards the cafeteria. Denise smiled back, but cringed shortly after when Lance, Kitty, and surprisingly, Scott surrounded her.  
"Oh my gosh! Like, are you okay?" Kitty asked, her blue eyes wide.  
"Ran into Duncan and a few of his friends. Cee saved me though. No worries."  
"No worries!! Are you insane?! Duncan's probably going to jump you every chance he gets!! Which means you can't go anywhere without telling anybody!" Lance whispered fiercely.  
Denise glared at her cousin and was about to yell at him when Scott spoke up.  
"Hey, how about I take you to the nurse's office. After she's checked on you, I'll walk you to class and then I'll have Kurt walk you to Alvers' jeep after school. I'll keep a close eye on Duncan, okay?"  
Denise smiled. "Scott, you're a lifesaver. Oh, can Cee come with us? And ya walk her to her class, too? I don't want Duncan jumpin' on her for helpin' me, kay?" She glared at Lance. "Hurry up and get ta class!"  
Scott smiled and nodded. He walked over to the other side of Denise and helped Darcy walk Denise to the nurse's office. When they got there, the nurse quickly ushered them in.  
"Oh my! What happened?"  
"Duncan Matthews."  
"I guess I'll need to have a talk with him about this."  
"Won't do ya much good. He won't listen."  
The nurse gave Denise an understanding look. She had been one of the few humans in Bayville that accepted mutants. "I'm going to have to check her over, so why don't you two get to class. Scott, I'll call you when she's good to go. Here are some late passes for the two of you." She handed both Scott and Darcy a pink slip of paper.  
Scott nodded before he walked over to the door. He held it open, waiting for Darcy. Darcy glanced at Denise, who nodded for her to go ahead. Darcy headed out the door after waving to Denise. Scott walked out after her, shutting the door behind him.  
"So, where are you supposed to be?"  
Darcy looked over at him. "English."  
He nodded as they continued walking, falling into an uncomfortable silence.  
"How do you know Denise?"  
"I'm a mutant, like she is. I live at the Xavier Institute, though."  
"You're an X-Man?"  
Scott frowned at her shocked tone. "Is there something wrong with that?"  
"Mystique said you were the enemy. Why are you helping a Brotherhood member?"  
"Mystique? So, I'm guessing you're a mutant who joined the Brotherhood." She nodded and he sighed. "I'm helping because I owe Denise big time for some things I said when we first met."  
She nodded. "So, what's it like living in that huge mansion?" she asked in a fairly happy voice.  
"Hectic. Especially in the morning. You have people running through you and teleporting around you. It's quite an adventure."  
Darcy smiled slightly at the thought of someone running through someone else. She looked up as they reached her class. "Thank you for walking with me."  
"It's no problem. I'll see you later, I guess."  
She watched as Scott walked off towards his class, whistling a bit as he did. She entered the classroom and handed the note to the teacher. He directed her to her assigned seat near the front. As she walked to her seat, she glanced around to see if she knew anyone in this class. She didn't, causing her to become a bit skeptical. She was afraid of humans, to tell the truth, but she was slowly getting used to her new life.  
  
After about thirty minutes, Scott was called back to the nurse's office to walk Denise to her next class. As she entered, she saw Duncan glaring at her from the back of the room. She just smiled before sitting down by Evan. He gave her a questioning look, but she just shook it off. He didn't pressure her into telling him what had happened. The rest of the day flew by rather quickly. As she walked out the doors, Kurt on one side, Darcy on the other, she spotted Duncan across the parking lot, glaring. She turned towards Lance's jeep and the trio made their way over there. Lance glared at Kurt, but thanked him nonetheless for delivering the girls. Kurt turned to walk away as the girls climbed into the jeep, waving to them before disappearing from sight. Lance sped off towards the Brotherhood house.  
"Oh, by the way, we're going over to the Institute Halloween weekend, okay?"  
Lance looked at his cousin questioningly. "Why?  
"To party and have fun. Don't worry, I'll try to get everyone to have fun."  
"What about Mystique, yo?"  
"Don't worry 'bout her. I've got it covered. Think it should be a costume party?"  
Everyone nodded. Denise just grinned, knowing this meant she'd have to call the Institute to let someone know. She sat back and waited for Lance to drop her off at her house. When she got there, she ran straight to her room. She grabbed the phone and dialed the number for the Institute.  
"Xavier Institute," Evan answered.  
"Hey Evan, can I talk to Scott, please?"  
"Sure, hold on a sec. This is Dee, right?"  
"Yep," she said in a cheerful voice.  
"Alright, I'll go get him."  
A few minutes later, the unmistakable voice of Scott came over the phone line. "Hey Denise, what's going on?"  
"Didn't I tell ya ta call me Dee? Anyways, let's make that party a costume party and move it to this Saturday. I want to go trick or treating next weekend. Besides, everyone will expect us to have one then."  
"Alright, I'll tell everyone. Uh, are you entirely sure about this? We are supposed to be enemies."  
"I'll explain at the party, okay? Just make sure everyone's there."  
"You got it. See you then."  
"'Kay. Later then."  
After she hung up, she quickly dialed the boarding house number.  
"Hello," Lance answered after three rings.  
"Hey Lancey-wancey. Listen, me and Scottie bumped the party to this weekend, okay?"  
"Yeah, that's fine. Is it going to be a costume party?"  
"Yep, everything's arranged. I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."  
"Okay, bye Dee."  
"Buh bye."  
She hung up and sighed before she got started on her homework. About an hour later, her father called to her from downstairs, and he sounded very angry. When she reached the bottom of the steps and walked into the living, she froze. There, on the television, the Brotherhood and the X-Men were locked in a heated battle.  
"What's this? I thought we were going to put all this mutant nonsense behind us! And then we find out that not only are all of your new little friends mutants, but Lance is too!"  
"Daddy! We can't help it if that's who we are! And quite frankly, I like being a mutant!" she exclaimed, her temper getting the better of her. She noted that the ground wasn't shaking and she didn't feel the tug from deep inside telling her that lava was working its way up. "Besides, since I've started hanging around people like myself, I've learned to control my powers a little! And in time, they will fully be under my control!! Haven't you noticed that the house is still standing?!"  
"That's not the point!! My daughter will not be a mutant!! If you really want to keep this nonsense up, you can get out of my house!! Your mother and I are going back to California!"  
Denise took a step back and heard a gasp from her mother, who walked in to hear the very last part of their conversation. She saw the tears well up in her daughter's eyes and felt the tears within her own. She couldn't bring herself to oppose her husband, though, and Denise turned and ran out the door. Adam Saylors turned and stormed upstairs, getting a head start at packing all of his daughter's belongings. Michelle followed shortly after, but she simply stood in the doorway before gathering the courage to speak.  
"I'm leaving her the Cavalier."  
Adam looked at his wife in complete shock. She loved her car, so why leave it here? "What are you saying?"  
"If I have to leave my daughter, the least I can do is that. I didn't want her to be a mutant anymore than you, but she is. I might have been away for most of her childhood, but she is still my baby girl!!" With that said, she turned and fled to her own room, tears streaming down her cheeks. Adam sighed as he continued packing his daughter's belongings. This was just as hard on him as it was on Denise and Michelle, but he just couldn't deal with the fact that his daughter was a mutie.  
  
Denise ran down the street, faintly aware of the fact that she was heading for the park, which happened to be the very spot the fight on television was taking place. She reached her destination in time to see Mystique fighting with Wolverine. She quickly ducked behind a tree, not wanting the two warring teams to see her with fresh tears streaking down her face. She slid down the tree into a sitting position, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her folded arms on them. Then she placed her head in her arms and continued to cry silently.  
Avalanche was, as usual, facing off against Cyclops. He dodged a blast from Cyclops' optic beam causing it to fly through an intangible Shadowcat and hit Freddy, whom it didn't hurt all that much. Shadowcat and Rogue were busy fending off the few inanimate objects sent their way by Mem. Rogue was hoping to get close to the girl to knock her out for some time, and seeing as Darcy was getting weak due to the usage of her powers, Rogue might get her chance soon. Nightcrawler was dueling with Toad, both trying to stay out of the battle between Jean and Freddy, which resulted in heavy things flying in every direction. James was busy trying to keep the emotionless Adolf from crushing him, adjusting the gravity level around him to protect him from the objects being teleported above his head. Every once in a while, he'd have to dive out of the way, though. Amber was currently trying to use her unique spikes against the Scarlet Witch, but seeing as Wanda had hexed Prism's powers, she wasn't having that much luck. Luckily, a loose spike from Evan flew right past Wanda's head, distracting her long enough for Amber to regain control of her powers and shower Wanda with spikes, shooting some in Rogue and Kitty's direction helping Darcy out unintentionally as she followed Wanda's dodges. Christina, otherwise known as Sonic Boom, was currently sparring against Chameleon. Since Ryka's powers only allowed her to become invisible for a mere minute, she had to relay on the fact that she could see in two directions at once to dodge the golden glowing bombs Christina threw at her. Of course, considering that the bombs shook the ground quite a bit when they hit, she had to regain her balance by going invisible before dodging more bombs. Evan's spikes had only disrupted the fight between Wanda and Amber as he tried to pin Pietro against something to stop the speed demon from taunting him as he always did.  
Suddenly, Wolverine stopped fighting against Mystique and sniffed the air. When he caught the familiar scent of a certain walking volcano mixed with salt water, he grimaced. Shoving Mystique back when she came at him once again, he turned towards the fighting teens.  
"X-Men! Stop your attacks!"  
Both teams immediately stopped their assaults and looked at the temperamental Canadian in bewilderment. Even Mystique stopped her advance.  
"What is the meaning of this?!" she exclaimed, but Wolverine paid her no heed.  
He turned towards the tree the familiar scent was coming from. "Spunky? I can smell ya, so I know your there! Why don't you come on out?"  
The short brunette stepped out from behind the tree, wiping her eyes with her hands, confirming Logan's thoughts. Lance's eyes widened at the tear stained face of his cousin. The three newest X-Men saw this and confusion crossed their features. Why would Logan do something like that for an enemy?  
"Denny? What's wrong? Is it about this?" Lance asked, fear lacing the concern in his voice.  
Denise shook her head, even though this battle was involved. Looking around as her cousin asked her why she'd been crying, she sent a silent plea to the only person she could.  
'Jean, please, help. I can't tell them what happened yet. I know we started off bad, but please.'  
At the girl's pleading tone, Jean's expression softened. She asked if Denise could at least tell her, being rewarded by the whole story. Jean immediately felt terrible for Denise.  
"Maybe we should let her tell us what happened when she's ready," Jean's voice cut through the silence.  
"She's right," Logan said gruffly. He turned towards Mystique. "This battle's over."  
Mystique fumed as he turned to walk away. She ran towards him, ready to attack when lava sprouted from a crevice created by Lance earlier and blacked her path. She turned to see a very calm Vesuvius looking at her with lava-like eyes. Understanding the silent warning, Mystique grumbled, transforming into a raven and flying away. Although she believed she could control her team, she did not like the idea of being drenched in above scalding molten lava. Denise redirected the lava back into the crevice. She nodded towards the occupants of the park and then turned to walk away. Jean's voice rang through her head.  
'I'll go with you to get your stuff, if you'd like.'  
She smiled. 'Thanks Jean. I'll head towards the Institute. See you guys when you get there.'  
The two teams dispersed and headed to their respective homes. Lance looked downright concerned, in which he had every right to be. Todd and Freddy shared a look of wariness, for the usually hyperactive, pizza loving girl they knew had suddenly become very glum. Wanda tried to hide the fact that she was curious about Denise's behavior. Ryka and Adolf held their usual emotionless expressions, allowing no one to see what they were feeling. Darcy was staring at the ground as she followed behind Ryka, seemingly deep in thought. Pietro had already zipped pas them and to the boarding house, pulling his cell phone out and shutting the door to his room.  
The X-Men simply headed for the Institute, only one of them knowing that Denise would be there when they arrived. Logan knew Denise had sent Jean a silent message, for he had seen her expression changed as she gazed at Denise. He figured he would find out when he reached the Institute. When they arrived, they found Ray, Bobby, Jubilee, Amara, Rahne, Sam, Jamie, and Roberto in the foyer.  
"The Professor said to wait here. He's talking to Denise right now," Ray explained.  
"Isn't Denise our enemy?" Amber asked.  
Scott chuckled nervously. Kitty glared at him.  
"She's, like, Lance's cousin. She, like, came to us first. Became good friends with, like, a few of us before realizing Lance, like, lived here. Scott, like, totally blew up on her and she, like, joined them. She's still a friend, though. Right Mr. Logan?"  
"Spunky's got a good heart. Said she could prove some of the Brotherhood member do to. That's why we're havin' that party Saturday."  
Although Amber didn't trust easily, she figured the girl couldn't be that bad, considering she'd stood up against her boss. A few minutes later, Xavier came into the foyer with Denise following close behind. Everyone looked at them expectantly.  
"Denise told me what happened. She wants to tell the Brotherhood members before she tells you all about it, considering her cousin indeed may be the most worried."  
The group nodded, although James, Christina, and Amber were still a bit confused as to what was going on. Xavier nodded to Jean, who nodded back and followed Denise outside. When she heard Denise heave a sad sigh, she gave her a confident smile.  
"It'll be okay, Dee," she assured. "You're friends will always be behind you."  
"Thanks Jean," she replied, giving the redhead a small smile. "I guess I didn't think my parents would do something like this."  
"We all deal with something unexpected in our lives."  
Denise simply nodded as they climbed into Jean's SUV and headed for her house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
What will happen when they get to Dee's house? How will Denise cope with being disowned by her parents? Who is actually reading this? Anyways, I am open to advice on making this better and things you would like to see in this story. Also, other than Lance, Kitty, Roberto, Todd, and Pietro, I am stumped as to what everyone should dress up as. I'm also thinking of bringing the Acolytes into this during the party. Please, if you have any suggestions as to what the X-Men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes(if you wish for them to be at the party) should wear as a costume, tell me!! I will give credit to all ideas that did not come from my brain. I promise. 


	9. Moving In With The Brotherhood

Alright, here's chapter nine!! I still need for a few people to send in outfits for their characters. If not, I will be forced to let Dee, Kitty, and Tabitha choose them. I think I've got everyone else's costumes in consideration, but all other thoughts are very welcome. I will give you credit for your ideas! I promise you! Well, please review! Please!! I'm desperate!! I miss reviews!! I'm having review withdrawals here!! I'm not crazy, I swear. At least, that's what the voices in my head say. P.S. I'm thinking of having Dee's friend Drew make an appearance at the party. Whatcha think?  
  
Disclaimer: -Duo Maxwell steps out from behind a black curtain.- She doesn't own anything but Dee and Drew(Dee's friend in L.A.). Please don't sue her. She's really sweet and caring and- -Quatre cuts him off, talking from behind the curtain.- Forget it, Duo. She's not going to set us free. -Duo sighs and it is now that the chains around his hands and feet are seen. The locks have been melted by lava to keep them from being picked. He walks back behind the curtain.- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
All of Denise's belongings had been packed and moved out to the front lawn. Adam had been keeping an eye on it to make sure no one took anything from the doorway. When he saw a vehicle start slowing down as it came closer, he quickly shut the door, as to not be seen. Denise sighed as she hopped out of the car. Jean began to fold the seats in the back down so that they could fit the boxes in the vehicle. While she was doing this, Denise noticed something reflecting the sun's light on one of the boxes. She walked over to see a set of keys lying on a plain envelope. She picked the envelope up, carefully minding the keys, and opened it. She pulled the folded sheet of paper out of it, unfolded it, and began reading.  
  
'Dear Denise,  
I'm sorry things turned out this way and that I'm too much of a coward to stand up to your father. I want you to know that I'll always be thinking of you and if you ever need anything, to let me know. I'm leaving you the Cavalier, since I know you enjoy driving it. I'll keep up the insurance payments, but I'm filing to have the title put in your name.  
Love,  
Mom P.S. Here's a little money to help you out.'  
  
Denise could feel the tears welling up in her eyes once more, but she quickly blinked them back. She noticed a smaller envelope within the larger one. Pulling it out, she realized it was full of cash. She quickly stuffed it back in the larger envelope and stuffed it into her vest pocket. She turned towards Jean, who was slowly walking towards her. Denise grinned.  
"Hey, I never said sorry for nearly killing ya with Evan's skateboard."  
Jean shook her head. "That's okay."  
"Don't think our rivalry will end here, though. I gotta have someone to squabble with."  
Jean laughed. "Sounds fair to me."  
"Well," Denise stated, picking up the keys. "I'll pack a few things in the Cavalier. We should be able to fit the rest in your ride. 'Kay?"  
"That sounds fine with me."  
Denise smiled as she headed for the Cavalier parked in the driveway, one of the smaller boxes in her hands. She easily maneuvered the box to where she could open the passenger door and place it in the seat. She continued to place boxes in the black Cavalier until there wasn't anymore room. She looked over towards the SUV to see that the rest of her things were firmly packed into the back, thanks to Jean's telekinetics.  
"You following me to the Boarding House?"  
"I guess so," Jean stated, a little nervous.  
"Don't worry 'bout it. You're under my protection. If anyone gives you trouble, I'll hurt 'em."  
Jean smiled, still a bit nervous, as she watched Denise climb into her car. She quickly climbed into her own vehicle, starting it up. When she heard the distinct sound of Linkin Park blaring, she looked up to see Denise pulling out of the driveway and onto the road. She shook her head and followed Denise to the boarding house, where Lance was impatiently waiting outside.  
"Denise! What's goin' on?! Why do you have Aunt Mikki's car?! What's with the boxes?! Why's Red here?!" Lance asked, the last question coming out as a growl.  
"She's helping me move in. My father disowned me and my mother didn't have the guts to stand up to him. I got a car, though. All the girls sharing a room?"  
"Well, me, Pietro, and Adolf are sharing a room and Fred's sharing with Todd. Darcy's staying by herself as of right now, and Ryka's sharing with Wanda."  
"I'll share with Darcy then, if it's okay with her," Denise said, walking inside. Darcy was coming down the stairs. "Hey, Cee, ya mind if we share a room?"  
"Of course not," Darcy said smiling.  
Denise returned the smile and turned around. "Lance, help Red carry those boxes in, will ya?"  
"Fine!" Lance growled, but she had heard him chuckle at the use of the nickname.  
"Shall we go make room for me?"  
Darcy smiled and nodded and both girls quickly made their way upstairs. After rearranging some things so that another bed would fit, Denise told Darcy she could go downstairs while she was arranging her stuff. Jean brought Denise's twin sized be upstairs using her telekinesis and set it up in the corner that had been cleared out. She quickly set it up and then went back down to get some boxes. As the boxes came in, Denise began unpacking, setting up shelves where she thought they should go. After a few hours, everything was arranged to where there was still enough space to walk and such. Jean had left after the last boxes had been brought up and Lance was currently leaning against the door frame.  
"Pietro invited the Acolytes to the party."  
Denise gave him a sideways glance before returning to what she was doing.  
"I'm sure the only one you'll have to worry about will be Pyro. He's sorta crazy."  
"It's probably nothin' I can't handle." Lance looked at her incredously. "Trust me, Lancey. I can handle it."  
"So, tell me, Dee," he said, a wicked grin playing on his lips at the thought of torturing his cousin. "What's goin' on with you and the X- Geek?"  
"X-Geek?" she stated, blinking as she turned away from adjusting her pictures to look at him.  
"The fuzzy blue one."  
"Kurt? Nothing's going on."  
Lance grinned. He knew about her habit of calling Kurt Fuzzy. "Really? So, why'd ya call him by his name? And is that a blush I see?"  
As he had stated, she had been blushing lightly, something he hadn't seen his cousin do in years. After his last statement, though, her blush had deepened. "I–I didn't. Uh, I mean, um."  
"Is that a stutter I'm hearing? Does this mean that Denise Lynn Saylors is majorly crushing on someone? After years of having 'small, insignifigant crushes' as she has dubbed them?"  
"No! We're just good friends, okay?"  
"I see. In that case, I'll go tell Pietro to tell Shannon that he's completely available," he said, starting to walk off.  
"Who's Shannon?"  
He grinned before putting on a serious face and turning around. "Just someone we know has been dieing to ask him out. Maybe he could take her to the Halloween party Saturday."  
He watched as his cousin blinked before she turned around. Her fists clench and the house shook slightly. When she realized what was going on, she calmed down and the shaking stopped, much to Pietro's delight, who had been yelling at the two to knock it off. She then proceeded to blush a lovely shade of dark red, rivaling that of a tomato.  
"You do like him!! Man, I really didn't want you to fall for an X- Geek, but I guess in runs in the family, huh?" he said smiling cheesily as she giggled. He noticed she wasn't denying it anymore. "Why not ask him to the Halloween party?"  
"What if he says no? Or, or, he's already got a date? Or something like that?"  
"Chill out, Dee. Just, sleep on it, okay?"  
She sighed and nodded as she watched him leave. What she didn't know was that her cousin had a devious little plan forming in his mind. He picked up the phone and walked to his room, shutting the door for privacy. He quickly dialed the Institute's number.  
"Like, hello, Xavier Institute," Kitty said, having picked up after the third ring.  
"Kitty? Listen, I know this sounds strange, but I need to speak to Kurt."  
"Lance? Are you serious?"  
"Yeah, it's kind of important."  
"Okay, I'll, like, go get him. Like, hold on."  
"Okay." When he heard her set the phone down, he sighed. "I can't believe I'm doin' this," he muttered to himself. A few minutes later, someone picked up the phone.  
"Ja?" Kurt's distinct accent rang over the line.  
"Uh, hey Kurt. It's Lance."  
"Lance? Vhy are you calling me?"  
"Well, I wanted to tell ya that Denise has something very important to ask you tomorrow at school. Just tell her Lance said she had something important to ask you. And what ever you do, don't let her get away. Teleport her somewhere high or somethin', okay?"  
"Um, ja. But vhy somevhere high?"  
"She's afraid of heights, so she won't try to go anywhere."  
"Okay," Kurt said a bit hesitantly. "Do you vant to talk to Keety?"  
"Nah, just tell her to meet me at my locker tomorrow mornin'."  
"Okay."  
"Bye."  
Kurt was about to respond when he heard the sound of the phone being hung up. He shrugged and hung up himself. Kitty was still standing beside him.  
"So, like what was that about?"  
"He said Dee needs to ask me something tomorrow."  
"Oh. I, like, wonder what she could want? Anyways, did you know that Sam actually worked up the nerve to ask Rahne on a date?! They're, like, going to the party this weekend. Apparently, he, like, had a talk with Dee about, like, asking girls out. Ray's going with Amara, as if that wasn't obvious. Jamie beat Bobby and, like, asked Jubilee to be his date. Of course, she, like, said yes, so Bobby's, like, going to ask one of the new girls, most likely Christina. Roberto's, like, going stag. He lost a bet with Ray and, like, has to go to the party in a ridiculous costume. James, like, seems too shy to ask anyone and Amber's going stag."  
"Vhat about Evan?"  
"He's, like, thinking of asking Rogue. Wouldn't that, like, be great?!"  
Kurt smiled. He had seen the looks his sister had been sending in his best friend's direction. Not to mention the fact that he was pretty sure Denise had asked Rogue what she was looking at when she'd rode with them to school. He was the only person who knew that Evan actually returned Rogue's feelings, though. "Ja. Vhat about chaperones?"  
"Like, Mr. Logan and Ororo are going to be chaperones. Mr. McCoy's going to be the D.J. Are you, like, going with anyone?"  
"Not as of yet. I haven't asked anyone."  
"Oh, maybe you should ask Dee. I'm going to ask her to go shopping with me and Rogue tomorrow after school. I've already got an idea for mine and Lance's costumes."  
"Maybe someone should varn him?"  
Kitty glared, causing Kurt to chuckle. "Like, what's that's supposed to mean?!"  
Kurt simply shook his head before teleporting to his room. Kitty huffed and stormed off, intent on finding someone to yell at. Ray was the unsuspecting victim. He cowered in fear as Kitty went on about Lord knows what. Making a quick getaway, he claimed that he had heard Amara calling him.  
  
At the boarding house, Todd was doing a poor job of trying to get Wanda to be his date to the party. Pietro was watching cartoons with Fred and Adolf in the living room. Lance was in his room, staring at the ceiling, thinking up ways to dodge his cousin when she found out what he had pulled. Tabitha had come over, but decided she should do some 'bonding' with Denise. In other words, they were discussing boys. Ryka and Darcy were in the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. No one was surprised to see Todd fly down the stairs along with a blue light a few moments later. Lance, Denise, and Tabitha came out of their respective rooms to see a very angry Wanda standing in the hallway. Adolf appeared in the doorway to the kitchen a mere second later, having heard the commotion from the backyard.  
"I will not go with you Toad!"  
"But, snookums, you have to have a date!!"  
"Fine," she growled. Todd's face lit up until she continued. "Adolf will be my date!! Now, LEAVE ME ALONE!!"  
Todd's smile fell and his attitude turned sour real quick. Adolf arched an eyebrow upon hearing this announcement. Lance shrugged, going back into the room he shared with Pietro and Adolf. When Adolf had seen that the girls needed a room, he reluctantly decided to bunk with the better two of the boys. Fred blinked as Pietro busted out laughing, right before getting blasted with a hex bolt himself. Denise and Tabitha shrugged, Tabitha going downstairs to check on Pietro and Denise walking back to her and Darcy's room. Ryka raised an eyebrow at the gloomy Todd before walking over to him. Darcy simply went up to join Denise, and perhaps question her about a certain X-leader.  
"If you want, I'll go with you," Ryka said in her usual voice. It didn't matter to Todd, though. He immediately brightened up.  
"Really, yo?" At Ryka's nod, Todd beamed. "Alright!" He quickly hopped upstairs in into his room. After all, he had planning to do.  
Ryka simply sighed as she made her way toward her own room, where she knew a brooding Wanda would be. Bunking with Wanda didn't bother her until Wanda began blowing things up with hex bolts.  
As Fred went to fix dinner, Denise came back downstairs, a set of keys dangling from her forefinger. Pietro immediately recognized them as Lance's.  
"Don't you have your own car?"  
"Yeah, but it's fun stealing Lance's jeep."  
Tabitha grinned. "Let's go to the mall! We can get costumes for the party!!"  
Denise grinned and nodded before both girls bolted out the door. When the jeep started up, Lance came running downstairs. He opened the door just in time to see his jeep driving away, his cousin in the driver's seat.  
"Argh!!! I'm gonna kill her!" When Lance slammed the door, Pietro blinked.  
"Does that mean you're gonna bring the house down on us?"  
Lance blinked before realizing he had been causing a tremor throughout his outburst. He quickly stopped the earthquake. Lance sighed before shaking his head.  
"So, what are you going to the party as?" Pietro asked the brunette boy.  
"I'm not sure yet. I'll have to think about it."  
"I'm going as the Grim Reaper. Toad bet me twenty bucks that I couldn't pull it off."  
"What's Todd going as?"  
"Dunno. He said it was a secret."  
"I'm going back to the room. Call me when Freddy gets supper ready."  
"You got it," the speed demon said hurriedly before sitting on the couch to watch t.v. Adolf once again headed towards the back yard, this time to get away from the chaotic world which was now his home instead of to train.  
  
At the mall, the two hyperactive girls were roaming around the costume store, making fun of costumes they deemed unworthy to be called such. At the shout of her name, Denise turned to see Kitty and Amara walking towards her, with a sulking Rogue behind them. Denise smiled, as did Tabitha, but since she hadn't noticed the three girls heading their way yet, it must have been due to the fact that she had just caused a boy's soda to explode all over him with one of her small cherry bombs. She turned in time to see the girls stop in front of Denise and herself.  
"Hey! You guys looking for costumes as well?!"  
"Like, of course! I've already picked out mine and Lance's costume, although he, like, doesn't know it yet."  
Denise smiled. "I'll tell him when I get back. What about you two?"  
"I haven't decided on what to be yet," Amara replied. "I'm simply looking around."  
"You should go as a hula girl!"  
Amara's eyes lit up at Denise's suggestion. "That's a great idea! Thanks, Dee!"  
Denise smiled. "What about you, Rogue?"  
"Ah ain't goin'!"  
"Why not?" Denise asked, looking at the southern Goth who had her arms crossed. "Wanda's goin' to be there."  
"Ah don't wanht ta go!"  
"I'll make ya a deal. If you go, I'll let you pick out my costume, but you have to let me pick out yours."  
Rogue looked at Denise skeptically. She figured the girl knew her taste and wouldn't choose something too bizarre. She, on the other hand, was planning on being a bit mischievous.  
"Deal," she replied, holding out a gloved hand. Little did Denise know, she was sealing her own fate.  
  
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Please review! I'll give you a cookie!! Shaped like a lion!! 


	10. A Few Costumes, A Few Dates

Alright! The tenth chapter is up!! Tell me what you think about it!! Alright, I've picked everyone's costumes. Thank you to those who have sent me costumes for your characters. To those of you who didn't, pray that I was being nice when deciding on a costume. Anyways, if any of you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me. Just so you all know, Remy and Fred's costumes were contributed by Yokokaru-chan! Thank you, Yokokaru-chan!!! Alright, I'll stop yapping and let you guys read the story. Any ideas for what Denise will do to Lance are welcome. I have a few of my own, but this is your one chance to see Lance in a world of pain, so if you have an idea you'd like for me to use, drop it by the door on your way out! Laterz!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tabitha claimed she spotted a costume near the back of the store that she wanted to get, so she dragged Amara with her, her hazel eyes gleaming mischievously. Kitty followed them to the back, hoping she would find what she was looking for. Denise headed for the left side of the store, towards the more gothic costumes. Rogue smirked as she headed towards the right side of the store. She would never be caught dead wearing these costumes, considering they were all bright colors. After searching for a few minutes, she found a white angel costume with a shimmering white dress. She smirked again as she plucked it off the rack and headed back to the center of the store. She knew her friends would meet her there.  
Meanwhile, Denise was trying to decide between a witch costume and a vampiress costume. She finally decided on the vampiress outfit that was complete with a dark green and black velvety dress. She headed back to the center of the store, where she spotted Rogue waiting.  
"Hey! I found one! How do you like this?"  
Rogue looked over the costume and then nodded appreciatively. "That's good. Now, heah's yoah's."  
Denise had to do a double take as Rogue lifted her costume in the air. "I-I can't wear that! It's a.. a dress!"  
"We had a deal, remembah?"  
"Yeah yeah," Denise grumbled, taking her costume from Rogue and giving Rogue hers. Denise's smile returned, though, as she continued talking to the Goth. "So, did you notice the irony of your costume?"  
Rogue smiled slightly. "Yeah."  
"I thought it suited you quite well. Now, why in the world did you pick this for me?"  
"Ah thought you could surprise mah brothah with it."  
Denise stopped suddenly. "What are you talking about?"  
"Look, you admit that you lahke mah brothah and I'll admit somethin' in return."  
Denise raised an eyebrow, but grinned. "You admit it first."  
"Fahne. I lahke Evan," the Goth whispered, blushing deep red.  
Denise grinned. "I so knew it," she whispered back and began dancing. Rogue glared at her, reminding Denise that she had to admit something as well. "Alright, alright. So, I like the fuzzy blue elf. Okay?" Denise was now blushing just as bad as Rogue.  
"Fahne with me."  
Kitty chose that moment to bounce over to them. "Like, check this out! I, like, found the perfect costumes for, like me and Lance." She held up a cat costume and a dog costume. "Aren't they adorable?"  
Denise grinned. "They ARE adorable. And I'm sure Lance will LOVE them."  
Kitty smiled brightly as she headed for the cashier. Denise followed, grinning from ear to ear. Her cousin was so in for it this time. Rogue smirked slightly at the thought of Lance dressed like a puppy. When they reached to the register, Tabitha and Amara were on their way to check out. Tabitha had picked an orange saloon girl outfit, while Amara had taken Denise's advice and was buying a hula girl costume. After paying for their costumes, they exited the store.  
"Like, we were planning on coming tomorrow, but Scott and Jean got into a fight. We had to, like, get out of there," Kitty explained after Tabitha asked why they had come to the mall.  
"I was extremely bored. Besides, I have a feeling that Lance has done something totally embarrassing to me."  
"Like, he did call earlier. He, like, wanted to talk to Kurt."  
Denise froze dead in her tracks. "What?! Do you know what he said?!"  
Kitty frowned, confusion written all over her face. "No. All I know was it was, like, right before we left."  
Denise suddenly seemed too calm for anyone's safety. "Come on, Tabby. We gotta go."  
As she stomped off towards the jeep, Tabitha turned towards the girls. "We'll cathca later!"  
She chased after her brunette friend, hardly containing her excitement in seeing what was about to go down at the Brotherhood house. 'Maybe I should move back in,' she thought to herself.  
Denise drove calmly, not letting what she was feeling show one bit, until they pulled into the Brotherhood drive. After asking Tabitha to take her costume upstairs, to which the blonde happily agreed, Denise stomped towards the house, throwing the door open.  
Todd cowered in fear, expecting Mystique instead of the short brunette. He quickly hopped behind the couch upon seeing the look on her face. Pietro had been pacing rather quickly on the floor, rambling about his relationship with Tabitha. Now, he was in the armchair, sitting awfully still for the silver haired speed demon. Freddy was cooking in the kitchen, only coming to the doorway to see who had caused all that racket. Wanda, Ryka, Darcy, Lance, and Adolf were all upstairs when a furious scream rang through the house, rattling the walls.  
"LANCE ALVERS!!! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!!!"  
Adolf looked down at Lance from his top bunk. "What did you do?"  
Lance shrugged, but decided against keeping his cousin waiting as he set his guitar aside and headed downstairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he started having second thoughts about coming down. Denise's eyes were glowing that vibrant orange color that accompanied her powers and there was no doubt in Lance's mind that somewhere an unexplainable volcano was erupting in Bayville.  
"What the hell were you thinking?! What did you say to him?!"  
"What are you talking about Denise?" he asked, completely confused.  
"We ran into Kitty at the mall," Tabitha said as she sauntered in. "She told us you called the Institute."  
Lance's eyes widened as Tabitha skipped up the stairs. "Oh, that. I can explain, really!"  
Denise crossed her arms, her eyes returning to their normal color. "Then I suggest you start."  
"Look, I was just trying to help out. I didn't even believe I was doin' it. By the time I started doubting it, he was already on the phone and I couldn't stop myself. Sorry, Dee."  
Denise sighed before shaking her head. Then she remembered the costumes Kitty had picked out for the two. When a small grin appeared across her features, Lance gulped. Something was up, he could tell. His cousin always remained mad for at least another hour or two.  
"By the way, Kit bought your costumes today. They're quite cute, if I do say so myself."  
So that was it. Kitty had went ahead and bought him a costume. He had a feeling things were going to get worse. He sighed. 'Oh well,' he thought. 'You know what they say. What goes around, comes around.'  
"Right, I guess she'll give it to me at school er sumthin'. What did you get?"  
Denise scowled, thinking about the costume Rogue had picked out for her. "It's a surprise."  
At that time, Freddy came to stand in the kitchen doorway. "DINNER TIME!!"  
Denise grinned and headed for the kitchen, quickly followed by the rest of the household.  
  
At Magneto's base, Remy was watching as St. John put the finishing touches on his Halloween costume. Even if the Australian was a little crazy at times, he sure did know how to sew. Remy was going to go as a demolition worker, thanks to Yesima. Piotr hadn't decided if he was going or not. St John was going as Vash the Stampede and Jennifer was going as Harley, the Joker's sidekick off of Batman.  
"Good job, mon ami. Remy t'inks you do dis often."  
"Not that often, mate."  
"Have you seen de cheres? Remy hasn't seen them all day."  
"Yesima said somethin' about going shoppin' for 'er costume."  
"You realize we have t'behave?"  
"Yeah, Pietro told me. Said one of their new members would hurt me if I didn't."  
"You believe 'im?"  
"Remember that volcano in California they couldn't explain, mate?"  
"Oui."  
"That was 'er."  
"A chere did dat?  
"Yep."  
"Mon Seigneur."  
"That's what I said."  
Remy gave St. John a look before walking off. St John went back to examining his costume, making sure it was just right.  
  
At the Institute, Kitty, Amara, and Rogue sauntered into the recreation room, where Kurt, Scott, and Ray were watching Scream 2.  
"Man, I can't believe people are actually scared of this movie," Ray complained, not having noticed the girls yet.  
Amara smirked as she snuck up behind Ray, before slamming both her hands down on his shoulders. Ray let out a shrill scream, turning bright red when he saw it was only Amara. The others busted out into laughter, except Rogue, who only smirked.  
"That wasn't funny!"  
"Calm down, Ray. I was just playing around. Besides, we wanted to show you our costumes."  
Kitty nodded ecstatically and Rogue looked like she wanted to kill Amara. Scott raised an eyebrow when he saw the bag in Rogue's hand.  
"I thought you weren't coming."  
"Ah made a deal with someone."  
"I see. Well, are you going to show us or not?"  
Kitty gladly set the bag down in front of her before pulling out her costume. "Isn't it cute?" The guys all raised their eyebrows. "And I, like, got a matching puppy one for Lance." She squealed, closing her eyes, causing her to miss their smirks.  
Amara pulled out her costume and Ray's jaw dropped. "Denise gave me the idea. What do you think, Ray?"  
Ray nodded dumbfoundedly. "Uh, yeah, it's, uh, great."  
The three boys turned to Rogue expectantly. She simply crossed her arms and glared. "It's a surprise." She then turned and headed up to her and Kitty's room.  
Kitty frowned slightly before turning back to the boys. "So, like, what are you all gonna be?"  
"I'm going as a knight from the middle ages," Scott replied, grinning. Kitty rolled her eyes.  
"I zink I'll go as mien self, only I'll have ze Prof. fix mien image inducer to turn mien fur red."  
"And he'll be wearing a tux. Like a sophisticated demon. I'm going as a surfer guy."  
Kitty smiled, winking towards Amara. It was obvious that Ray wanted his and Amara's costumes to be similar. "Well, I, like, am going to bed. Night."  
The others waved as Kitty headed for her room. On the way, she heard Jamie telling Bobby he was going as a prince and Jubilee was going as his princess. Bobby replied that he was planning on asking Christina tomorrow, so he wasn't sure what to go as yet. Kitty shook her head as she entered her room to get ready for bed.  
  
Back at the Brotherhood house, they had all finished eating a few minutes earlier and Adolf was currently washing the dishes. Todd was sitting on top of the roof when Denise came up behind him.  
"Whatcha doin'?"  
"Nothin'," he replied, looking at her. "How'd you get up here?"  
"I used to do the same thing at my old house. You know, I heard Ryka telling Wanda she was goin' as Sango from Inu Yasha. If you want, I can help you make a Miroku costume."  
He smiled. "Already ahead of ya, Dee. I overheard her say that a while back, so I started making it then. I'll need help with the color of my skin and stuff though."  
Denise grinned, a picture of a watch on a certain fuzzy blue hand popping into her mind. "Don't worry, I can make it happen. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to think. I need to go to sleep."  
"Night, yo."  
"Good night, Todd."  
When Denise started to leave, Todd called out to her. "Why do you do that, yo?"  
"Do what?" she asked, turning to face him again.  
"Call me Todd."  
"That's your name."  
"Most people call me Toad. I'm not a person to them."  
"You're a person to me. Kind of like a little brother. I've always wanted a little brother."  
Todd smiled. "Thanks, Dee."  
She smiled back. "Your welcome."  
As she climbed back down, Todd turned to look at the moon again. He sighed as he thought about how he didn't want to screw up at the dance.  
  
The next day at school, Principal Kelly called Lance, Kitty, and Denise to the office. When they arrived, he let all of them in.  
"Mr. Alvers, Ms. Pryde, I have been getting complaints about your showing of affection for one another. It needs to cut down tremendously."  
"Like, we don't do anything," Kitty exclaimed, but quieted down when Kelly sent her a glare. Lance sent Kelly one of his own glares.  
"As I was saying, you need to cut down on your displays of affection or I will be forced to do something about it."  
Kitty hung her head while Lance continued to glare. Kelly ignored him as he turned towards Denise.  
"And you, Ms. Saylors. I heard you attacked another student."  
"He attacked me sir! Punched me in the stomach, and hard too!"  
"Then how do you explain the bruise on his shoulder!"  
"Self defense."  
"Well, you'd better watch who you use 'self defense' on. I do not want another student harmed! You are all dismissed."  
Lance and Kitty left in the same position they were in when Kelly had addressed Denise. Denise left muttering obscenities in German. Kelly looked smug as he was seen shutting his door.  
The rest of the day went by rather quickly and by the time school ended, everyone was feeling a bit exhilarated. Lance had asked Kitty to meet him in the auditorium after school that morning, and when she walked in, he was sitting on the stage playing his guitar. Come to find out, he had written a song to ask her to the Halloween party, although he knew she expected him to ask, he knew she'd never expect him to ask like this.  
Bobby had finally worked up enough courage to ask Christina to the dance, and thankfully for him, she had said yes. He wanted to go as a werewolf, so she decided to go as a cat girl.  
Rogue was at her locker, listening to Denise talk about the little chat she had with Evan, glaring at the brunette from time to time when said boy decided to show up, skateboard in hand.  
"Uh, hey, Rogue, Dee," he said, turning towards the latter. "Mind if I snatch Rogue for a while?"  
"Not at all. I gotta go anyways. See you guys later."  
"Bye," they called as she headed for her own locker.  
"I, uh, was wondering if you'd like to, uh, gototheHalloweenpartywithme?"  
Rogue blinked, taking a moment to decipher the last part of his sentence. She blushed as she replied, "Lahke on a date?"  
"Um," he also began to blush. "Yeah."  
"Ah g-guess."  
"Great, I'll, uh, stop by your room around seven?"  
"Raght. Saturday at seven. See ya then."  
Evan nodded, dropped his skateboard, and skated around the corner. Rogue could have swore she heard a loud 'YES!!' from him, causing her to smile a bit, despite her blush.  
Denise was leaving the school when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was about to turn around when she was teleported onto the roof of the school. She turned to face Kurt.  
"Lance said you vanted to ask me somezing," he explained before she could speak.  
Denise froze, her eyes widening as she mentally cussed Lance. 'Damn you, Lance.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cliffy, I know! I couldn't help myself. Well, thanks for sticking with me. Sorry my updates aren't as close together as they were when I started. A lot of things are getting in the way. I promise I will not drop this story though. Now, to shout out to my reviewers.  
  
BaronOBeefDip – I sure can!! And that kind of helps me pick a costume for Todd, although I'll have to have Dee work with him a bit. I hope I'm not mutilating your charrie. ^.^;  
  
White Vampire – I'll try not to leave you guys hanging. That's okay, I have non-creative feeling days.  
  
Yokokaru-chan – Thanks for the ideas on Freddy and Remy's costumes. I chose the second costume you suggested for your charrie by the way. I'll update again A.S.A.P.  
  
R&R Ringraziamenti!! (Thanks) 


	11. The Party Is Nearly Here!

Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I updated, but I've been having some problems. I promise I'll try to update as soon as I can. I'm also taking on another story from another author. I shall see you all soon hopefully. This author's note is really short, but I'm kind of in a hurry. Thanks to all my reviewers!!  
Disclaimer: I do not own, although I wish I did.   
  
Denise smiled sheepishly, something she did not do often, and spoke. "He did, did he?"  
Kurt nodded, wondering what was going on. Denise had never acted this way. It was kind of weird, now that he thought about it. Maybe Lance was just joking with him when he had called.  
"Well, um, you see, uh, man I hate heights," she rambled, looking towards the edge of the building.  
"Dee, are you okay?"  
"Totally fine!" She put on her best grin, wondering if she looked as goofy as she felt.  
"So, vhat did you vant to ask me?"  
"Um, well.. Man, I'm gonna kill Lance."  
Kurt raised an eyebrow at that, but kept silent. Denise took a deep breath and released it before speaking again.  
"Lance has this idea in his head that I need a date type thing to the party. I don't know why, he's just weird like that. Call him old fashion, I guess." She laughed nervously and Kurt suspected more than what she was saying, but he shook it off.  
"Oh, vell, I guess I could accompany you. If zat's okay."  
"It's fine. I'm sure Lance won't worry about me too much then. Can we get down now?"  
Kurt nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder and teleporting them to the ground after making sure no one was looking. Denise let out a breath of relief, then glared across the parking lot to where her cousin was talking with Kitty beside his jeep.  
"See you later, Kurt," she said as she began to march towards her cousin.  
Kurt blinked at the unexpected use of his name before heading towards Scott's car, thoughts racing through his mind. Denise was halfway to Lance's jeep when she realized what she had said moments earlier. Her eyes widened as she felt herself turn really red. She had avoided addressing him for fear of saying his name instead of the ever usual 'Fuzzy', but in her haste to kill her cousin, she'd let it slip. She groaned, but continued towards her cousin all the same.  
"Lance! I hope you're happy!! That was the most humiliating experience of my life!! Right up there with what's gonna happen when everyone sees me in the costume Rogue so graciously picked out for me!!"  
"What did I do?" he asked her, snickering. Kitty looked between the two, confusion written on her face.  
"You know damn well what you did! Me, Kurt, the roof!! I can't believe you!!"  
"Wait! What's, like, so bad about that?" Kitty interjected.  
"She likes him."  
"Lance!!"  
"Oh!! That's, like, awesome!!"  
Denise groaned. "I'm leavin'. Hurry up, Lance. You're orderin' pizza tonight."  
"Why don't you order it?"  
"I have to go job huntin'. Besides, I need to pick somethin' up from the mall first." With that said, Denise turned her back towards the couple, heading over to her car.  
"That was, like, weird."  
"Yeah, she didn't kill me."  
"No, I mean, she, like, said Kurt. She usually, like, calls him Fuzzy."  
Lance grinned. "I wonder if she let that slip while talking to him."  
"What do you, like, mean?"  
"Knowing my cousin, whenever she gives someone a nickname, she only says their real name when something's important, she's being serious, or she's really nervous."  
"Oh. I could, like, ask him, like, when I get home."  
"That's okay. We'll just wait until the party. See you later, Pretty Kitty."  
Kitty giggled as she started towards Scott's car. "Like, bye Lance." She waved to him, ignoring Scott as he honked his horn for her to hurry up.  
As she hopped in the car, she saw Denise's car drive by, Ryka, Darcy, and Wanda riding with her. Wanda said something Kitty couldn't make out, but she did see Denise giggle slightly while Darcy said something in response, causing Denise's giggles to increase and Wanda to glare. Third Eye Blind's 'Semi-charmed Kind of Life' started blasting through the speakers and Denise turned it up, singing along.  
Kitty shook her head, giggling slightly as Denise's car vanished from sight. Kurt was sitting beside her, and on the other side was Evan, grinning like a kid who had just stole from the cookie jar and gotten away with it. Amber sat in the passenger seat. As Scott started the car, Kitty looked over at Evan.  
"So, like, did you ask her?"  
Evan blushed, knowing exactly who she was referring to. "Uh, yeah. She said yes."  
"Really!! That's, like, so totally cool!"  
"Yeah, man. Lance ask you yet?"  
"Yep!" she squealed, her eyes shimmering slightly. "He, like, wrote a song to, like, ask me! It was, like, so romantic!!"  
Scott rolled his eyes as he headed for the mansion. Kitty sighed dreamily as she waited for Scott to pull up to the mansion so that she could go write today's events down in her diary. Kurt and Amber simply grinned at Kitty's overly happy reply.  
  
At the Brotherhood house, Denise had just dropped the other girls off and was heading for the mall when Lance came outside.  
"Denny-girl, I really am sorry for putting you in such a tight spot."  
"It's okay, Lancey-boy. We both know I wouldn't have done anything like that if you hadn't. Despite my outgoing personality, I'm really shy around guys I like. But that's our little secret."  
Lance grinned as he winked at her. "Alright. Hurry up and get back here, I'll order your favorite."  
Denise beamed as she gave a thumbs up and then sped off. When she reached the mall, she noticed that there was a job opening in a store that sold music equipment. She quickly went in and filled out an application before heading for the computer store. Thankfully, her mom had left her enough money to buy a new laptop. She really needed to write Drew an e- mail, asking him if he would like to come to the Halloween party.  
  
Yesima waited until she heard St. John scream before she came out of her hiding place, snickering. She had pulled about four pranks on the guys since she had gotten here. St. John glared at her as Remy came in to see what was going on.  
"That was NOT funny, sheila!"  
"Of course it was!"  
Remy couldn't help but chuckle slightly upon seeing the Aussie covered in pink paint, with purple feathers sticking to him.  
"De chere is right."  
St. John glared at Remy before stomping off towards the showers, passing Jennifer on his way. Jennifer blinked as she watched him, before turning towards the other two Acolytes. She shook her head as she headed for Piotr's room. She was intent on talking him into going to the party with them.  
"So, did de chere pick out a costume?"  
Yesima nodded. "I'm going as Malik no hikari."  
Remy raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. "Well, chere, Remy don' have a date." He smiled that charming smile of his.  
Yesima raised an eyebrow. "Well, seeing that I have so many admirers," she began sarcastically. "I'll have to get back to you. I think I might be open, though."  
As she walked off towards her room, Remy chuckled lightly. This party was going to be quite an interesting event.  
  
"So, like, I heard Evan asked you, like, to be his date," Kitty squealed when Rogue entered their shared room.  
Rogue sighed as she shook her head. She knew her roommate would bombard her with questions the moment she saw her. That's why Rogue had stalled before confronting Kitty.  
"He did. And Ah said yes."  
"I know! He, like, told me you did, like, on the ride home. So, what, like, happened?"  
"He came up to me an' Dee when Ah was at mah locker. He asked me, Ah answered, we went our separate ways."  
"Aww, your no fun!!" Kitty seemed to pout for a minute before her usual cheery smile came back to her. "Well, like, I guess I'll just go ask Evan."  
Rogue groaned as she plopped down on her bed and began telling Kitty what happened between her and Evan, although it wasn't all that much, Kitty soaked up every little detail.  
  
Mystique was in a human form, walking through the mall, looking into shop windows, when she spotted one of the Brotherhood members. Denise, she believed the girl's name was. She remembered the girl being quite cheerful the last time they had been face to face, but now, she was staring forlornly at a television screen showing people protesting in L.A. Mystique made her way over to the girl.  
"Are you okay?"  
Denise blinked as she turned towards the brunette woman who had come to stand beside her. "Yeah, I'll be fine."  
"You know, a lot of people, your cousin included, wouldn't believe me to be a nice person."  
"You know my cousin?" Denise asked, disbelieving.  
"Lance Alvers, also known as Avalanche."  
"How do you know him?"  
"I'm a shape-shifter, Denise, but Lance and the others like to call me boss lady."  
"Mystique, wasn't it?" At the woman's nod, she continued. "Why aren't you all that nice?"  
Mystique sighed. "I'm a bad mother. Worse than that, actually. That's not important, though. It's too personal. I don't like to talk about it much."  
"You can't be any worse of a mother than mine is."  
Mystique glanced at Denise out of the corner of her eye, but kept quiet. She didn't want to press Denise about it, but Denise seemed to want to talk about it, so she continued on.  
"Remember when the Brotherhood was fighting the X-Men and Logan called off the attack?" Mystique nodded, but Denise didn't continue. She looked around before turning towards Mystique. "I'd rather not talk about it here. We should go somewhere else. I have a car."  
Mystique nodded and Denise headed for the exit. "I know somewhere we could go, if you'll allow me to drive."  
Denise handed her the keys as they reached the black Cavalier and climbed into the passenger seat. Mystique climbed into the driver's seat and headed for the construction site she had told Kurt to meet her at when she was to reveal herself as his mother. Both climbed out of the car, Mystique changing into her true form, and headed for a secluded part of the site.  
"My parents had been watching the news when they saw the fight," Denise stated as she sat down. "My dad told me it was either being a mutant or getting out of his house. My mother didn't even stand up to him. She just stood there and watched. My parents disowned me without a second thought. Surely you can't beat that."  
"Kurt's my son. Rogue's my daughter. I didn't mean to let them go. I wanted to keep them with every fiber of my being, but I just couldn't. I lost Kurt after Magneto.... After what he'd done, I ran. But he sent wolves after me, and when I got to the bridge, I dropped him. I dropped my baby into the rapids. When I saw him being taken in by those humans, I knew he'd be better off with them. I guess I was slightly happy when I found out he was at Xavier's. At least he wasn't being used by Magneto. And I used Rogue. My own daughter and I used her. I'm a terrible mother. I don't deserve a second chance."  
Denise shook her head. "Everybody deserves a second chance. Not matter what, you always deserve a second chance. As a mother or a daughter." She looked down after saying this last part. Shortly after, though, her head shot up. "Do you believe in destiny?"  
Mystique blinked. "I've never really thought about it."  
"I do. I believe everything happens for a reason, even if it sucks. Maybe, just maybe, this is our second chance."  
Mystique seemed the think about this before she smiled ever so slightly and nodded. "It just may be. Well, we'd better get home before the imbeciles destroy the house."  
"No kidding! Man, I swear the next time Wanda blasts someone into the wall, we should stick Freddy between that person and the wall!"  
Mystique couldn't help what she did next. She laughed. Mystique actually laughed a whole hearted, full blown laugh. She stood up, waiting for Denise to do the same, then made her way towards the car. She tossed Denise the keys and they climbed in, heading back to the Boarding House. When they arrived, Lance was outside, trying to fix something on his jeep.  
"Having problems Lancey-boy?"  
"Shut up, Denise!"  
Denise giggled. Lance hadn't looked up to see Mystique climb out of the same car as his cousin, but Pietro had seen from the living room window. He rushed outside to greet the blue skinned woman.  
"Mystique. What are you doing back so early? I mean, not that we don't mind having you around," he stated in his usual fast tone.  
Lance finally realized Mystique had come back with Denise and looked at his cousin curiously.  
Mystique glared at Pietro before turning towards Denise. "Thanks for the talk."  
Denise nodded before heading up towards her room. She had a lot of thinking to do.  
"Well, what are you two staring at?!"  
"Nothing," Pietro said before rushing off to do whatever.  
Lance simply shrugged and went back to working on his jeep. Mystique growled, heading for her own room, trying to at least act angry. A small smile, barely visible, remained on her lips, though. Maybe, just maybe, she had one other true friend besides Irene in this world.  
  
By the time Friday afternoon rolled around, everyone invited to the party at the Institute had their costumes ready and waiting, although they could barely contain themselves. Well, most of them anyway. Wanda wasn't exactly happy to be going to the party, but considering that Todd was not her date, she didn't mind as much. Adolf had expressed that he'd rather stay home and train, but he gave in after seeing Wanda blast Todd into the wall with a hex bolt for the fiftieth time in one day. Darcy was sitting on her bed, writing a song, when Denise stormed in, arms crossed and eyes glaring. When the ground began to rumble, Darcy took that as her queue to say something.  
"Earthquakes may have been a normal occurrence in California, but here it may seem a little suspicious. Especially if a volcano follows shortly afterwards."  
Denise blinked as her anger slowly dissipated. She looked at her roommate before sighing.  
"Yeah, I know. He just gets on my nerves sometimes."  
"Lance?" she asked, looking up from her song.  
"Pietro. He's so full of himself! I mean, he really needs to get a grip on reality and learn the nothing revolves around him."  
"He is quite the self-centered asshole."  
Denise nodded as she fell onto her bed. "Man, I can't wait until tomorrow."  
"Yeah, the fireworks are sure to blow everyone's mind."  
Denise blinked as she studied her roommate. Darcy had gone back to writing her song, acting as if what she had just said made perfect sense, even though no one had said anything about fireworks.  
"Sometimes, you scare me."  
"Likewise, my short tempered friend."  
Denise shook her head as she got up. "Whatever you say mein freund."  
Darcy cocked an eyebrow. "You know German?"  
"Enough to get by."  
"Does that guy know?"  
"Fuzzy?" At Darcy's nod, Denise shook her head. "I doubt it. I don't talk German much. I'll catch ya later. I need to talk to Lance 'bout somethin'."  
Darcy nodded as she watched Denise leave, her eyes never leaving her songbook.  
  
Alright, there's the eleventh chappie! I hope to write more soon!! Laterz!!  
  
BaronOBeefDip – Thanks. Well, the party should be during the next few chapters. Enjoy!  
  
DoctorWhat – Thanks a bunch! The party is coming up! I hope it will be good.  
  
AidanKeketIsis – Thanks! I'm trying! The next chapter should be up a.s.a.p. 


	12. It's Party Time!

Alright! Here's chapter twelve! The big party is finally here! I hope everyone enjoys it. Things may seem a bit rushed, but I really wanted to get this chapter up. The whole deal with Pyro is to get him and Denise better acquainted, considering he's going to be one of her friends. Anyways, if you would like to see anything happen, please tell me. I'm not sure how you want your characters to react around their crushes er whatnot, so I'm kind of going off instincts here. Please help me a little! Until next time!  
  
Disclaimer: -Todd hops out from behind a curtain.- She only owns Denise, Drew, and Dee's parents, yo. So don't sue her. Later. –He hops away.-   
  
Lance growled as he heard yet another wave of laughter coming from Todd and Pietro. Kitty was standing in front of him in a tight, calico leotard with kitty ears on her head and a tail tied around her waist. Lance wore a brown, baggy body suit with two droopy ears on either side of his head and long tail around his waist. Both their faces were painted to fit their roles. Pietro wore the black robe people usually associate with the Grim Reaper and held a plastic scythe as best he could while holding his stomach from laughing so hard. Todd miraculously pulled off the Miroku look, although Denise was the only one who knew how he was able to. The holowatch she'd borrowed from Hank was hidden underneath the cloth and prayer beads adorning Todd's left hand. The usual black and purple robes Miroku wore were adorning Todd, as he used the staff to help himself stand up straighter than he ever had. The watch had changed his skin, eye, and hair color, his hair already in the monk's usual style. Ryka stood off to the side of the boys, dressed in Sango's usual outfit, make up applied and everything. A large boomerang rested upon her back. Darcy came out of the room she shared with Denise grinning, her earth-toned princess gown swaying slightly with her movements, the long willowy sleeves hiding the tattoo on her left forearm. She wore a small golden tiara on her head and her hair was slightly curly. She has on a very small amount of make-up.  
"You shouldn't laugh at Lance," she chided, shaking a finger at the two boys.  
Todd's laughter slowed to simple chuckling while Pietro kept on. Soon, a blue hex bolt flew over his head when he bent over to hold his stomach once again.  
"Shut up, Pietro," Wanda growled through clenched teeth.  
Pietro's laughter abruptly stopped as he turned to look at his sister, who was dressed in a dark red gown, like the ones ancient Greeks used to wear. Adolf stood beside her, wearing an outfit similar to what Hades wore on the television show 'Hercules: The Legendary Journey'. If it weren't for the fact that Wanda would blast him into the next century, he would've laughed.  
"What's goin' on out here?" Fred asked as he came out of his room dressed as Peter Griffin from 'Family Guy'. He even had on a brown wig.  
"Sibling rivalry, Freddy!" Tabitha exclaimed, dancing up the stairs in her old western, bright orange saloon girl costume. Pietro blinked before grinning.  
"Are we all ready?" Ryka asked, looking around.  
"Yep!" Tabitha agreed.  
"Wait, where's Denise?"  
At Lance's question, everyone turned to face Darcy, since she did share a room with the hyperactive brunette. Darcy smirked slightly.  
"She won't come out."  
"Denise, get out here! We're gonna be late!" Pietro said hurriedly, rushing over to bang on the door.  
"That's okay," she responded, sounding a bit nervous.  
"C'mon, Dee. It can't be that bad!" Fred encouraged. "No one'll laugh."  
"Promise?" came the meek reply. Everyone looked around worriedly. Denise never sounded like that.  
"Uh, yeah."  
"Okay." Denise responded as the door opened.  
The dress was pure white and fell to mid thigh. It had spaghetti straps that criss-crossed in the back, which dipped to the small of her back. Thankfully, the angel wings strapped to her back covered most of the diagonal scar on her back. Her hair was up in a bun atop her head, with a few strands down to frame her face, and a halo is circling the bun. She had silver glitter eye shadow and blush on. She wore clear pumps, not too high, on her feet.  
"You look great, Dee! Now, come on!" Lance said smiling, dragging his cousin towards the door. Soon, the Brotherhood gang, piled into the two cars that they owned, are on their way to the Halloween party.  
  
Over at Magneto's base, Remy came out of his room dressed in his demolition worker costume, wearing a white muscle shirt under his trousers. He even had a hardhat and a utility belt. When he saw Piotr standing there dressed as superman, he smirked.  
"Decided to go, mon ami."  
"Jennifer convinced me to go."  
Remy was about to say something else to the ever quiet tin man, but St John burst out of his room wearing the long red trench coat that was accustom to being seen on Vash the Stampede. His hair was spiked up, but he had to have extensions, considering it wasn't quite long enough.  
"'Ello, mates! Nice costumes!"  
The boys nodded as they examined their teammate. The girls came out of their room shortly after. Jennifer was the spitting image of the Joker's sidekick, Harley Quinn. Yesima wore her Malik no hikari suit, the one with the white tank top, the gold chain and hood, revealing some stomach, as well as black, leather cargo pants. It also contained several gold armbands, gold chokers, gold headbands, and gold earrings.  
"Are de cheres ready?" Remy asked as he observed the girl's costumes.  
Both girls nodded as the gang headed for the garage. Yesima rode on the back of Remy's motorcycle while Jennifer rode on the back of Piotr's. John was content with riding by himself.  
  
At the Institute, Ororo, Logan, and Hank were in the foyer, waiting for the students to come down. Hank was dressed as a pirate, wearing a blue shirt, black pants, and a matching bandana. Ororo wore an old fashioned, purple gypsy gown. Logan wore his regular clothes.  
"I still don't see why you didn't dress up, Logan."  
"It's just not me, 'Ro."  
"Hey, how do we look?" Jamie asked as he came down the stairs escorting Jubilee. They were dressed as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan.  
"Fantastic! Is anyone else ready?" Ororo asked.  
"Yep! Sam, Rahne, Amara, and Ray are on their way down," Jubilee replied. She giggled as she walked off with Jamie, discussing how great his costume idea was.  
Ororo looked towards the stairs in time to see the four teens reach the bottom of the stairs. Sam wore a green elf suit, like something one of Santa's elves would wear, while Rahne wore a green, spaghetti strap dress that fell to mid thigh. Fake vines were wrapped around her arms, legs, and her pigtails. Amara wore her Hawaiian hula girl outfit with a flower in her hair and Ray wore Hawaiian shorts with his hair in a mess and a lay around his neck. Ororo smiled warmly as she greeted them.  
"You all look great."  
"Thanks Ororo. I can't wait until everyone gets here. Okay, so maybe I can wait for some people to get here," Ray said. The others laughed as they went off to do whatever.  
"Auntie O!" Evan shouted from the top of the steps. When Ororo turned around to greet him, she couldn't help but smile again. Rogue stood beside him, her arms wrapped around one of his, both in their vampire costumes.  
"Evan, Rogue, you both look marvelous. You do make quite the cute couple."  
Rogue blushed slightly at Ororo's words. She was wearing the old fashioned, green, English style dress Denise had picked out for her. Her hair was up in a bun with the two white strands falling to frame her face. Her usual make up was applied and her fingernails were painted green. Evan wore a tuxedo with a black cape, his face painted as pale as he could get it. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Ororo realized that they had fangs and fake blood in place, and they even had bite marks on their necks that looked quite realistic.  
"Did you two get help?"  
"Mr. McCoy helped us," Rogue responded, waving to the pirate DJ, who waved back smiling.  
Kurt was the next to come downstairs, only he teleported instead of taking the stairs. He wore a tuxedo as well, but his fur was red instead of the usual blue, thanks to specially designed holowatch. He even had two fake horns perched on top of his head.  
"How do I look?"  
Evan and Ororo smiled and nodded while Rogue snickered a bit.  
"Is zere somezing vrong?"  
Rogue shook her head. "Ah was just thinking of Denise's costume."  
The others were baffled, but Rogue didn't give them time to ask her any questions, because she drug Evan off to dance. Bobby and Christina came down next, both dressed in their normal clothes, but with hairy faces and hands, being as they were werewolves. Behind them was Roberto, trying to hide from everyone. He was wearing a pastel purple fairy outfit that Ray had picked out for him since he lost the bet they had going. Ororo couldn't help but laugh at the outfit and the sour expression on Roberto's face.  
"What an interesting choice of costume, Roberto," Ororo stated as the trio came down the stairs.  
"This isn't funny," he grumbled as he stomped over to a corner with his arms crossed.  
Bobby shrugged as he and Christina walked off in the opposite direction. Ororo didn't hear Scott and James walk up behind her. Scott was dressed in an ancient knight's clothes and James was dressed as an English Redcoat. Scott's armor was amazingly quiet.  
"Hey Ororo," he said, causing the weather witch to jump slightly.  
"Scott. Please refrain from doing that."  
"Sorry. Anyways, is everyone here?"  
"No, Amber and Jean haven't come down yet."  
"I'm here," Jean said. When the three turned to look at her, they found she was dressed as Elvira. "Like my costume?"  
"It's quite lovely, yet surprisingly gothic for you," Ororo commented.  
"I know, but I didn't feel like going as a princess."  
They all nodded as Jean walked off. Amber came down shortly after, wearing a strapless, black dress that fell to mid thigh. Her hair was in her usual pigtails and she had on dark make up. Ash black angel wings were strapped to her back and a halo was hanging off of one pigtail and black high heels were adorning her feet.  
"Wonder when our guests will be showing up," Logan grunted, walking over to the group.  
Ororo was about to respond when the doorbell rang. She smiled at Logan as they went to answer the phone. "I believe that answers your question."  
When they open the door, they saw the Brotherhood, and Kitty, standing there. The Acolytes weren't in site yet. Logan grinned when he noticed Lance's predicament. They two adults stepped aside to allow the teens to come in. Kitty was firmly attached to Lance, as was Tabitha to Pietro. Fred immediately headed for the food table while Tabitha and Kitty drug Pietro and Lance out to the dance floor. Ryka and Todd went to sit on the couch until a song they liked came on. Wanda and Adolf just stood around, Wanda glaring and Adolf being the same emotionless teen he always was. Darcy walked over to get herself something to drink. Logan and Ororo noticed Denise was peeking around the door.  
"Child, what are you doing?"  
"Rogue picked out my costume. It's a dress. Like hers," she said, pointing to Amber.  
"C'mon, Spunky. The elf's lookin' for ya."  
Denise's eyes widened. "I can't be seen like this!"  
Ororo smiled. "I believe it's too late."  
Denise was about to ask what she meant, but Kurt appeared before she could.  
"Dee! Come on. Ze party's already started!"  
He grabbed her hand and drug her out from behind the door and over to the refreshment table. Once he got a good look at her, he blinked.  
"Don't even ask. Rogue picked it out."  
Kurt nodded before he grinned. "Vell, zat explains vhy she vas laughing earlier." At Denise's confused look, he continued. "Vhen I came downstairs, she snickered and when asked vhy, she said she vas zinking of your costume."  
Denise noticed Kurt was a demon for Halloween and, slowly forgetting her own costume, giggled at the thought. "Well, looks like your date's quite the opposite of you, huh Fuzzy?"  
His grin widened. "Zat's fine vith me! Vanna dance?"  
"Love ta, Fuzzy. C'mon!"  
Tabitha had been dancing with Pietro when she noticed someone she didn't remember being at the Institute when she left. She smiled as she told Pietro she'd be right back, then sauntered over to where the boy was standing by Scott. Pietro glared when he saw where she was headed. He zipped over to the couch, plopping down on it.  
"Hey! Who's the new guy?" she asked a bit flirtatiously.  
"Uh, hey Tabby. This is James. James, this is Tabitha. She used to be a student here."  
"I didn't fit in. What are you guys doin' over here all by yourselves?!"  
"We don't have dates."  
"Aww. I'll dance with ya."  
Scott's blanched, but sighed in relief as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" As he shouted over the music, he headed for the door.  
"Man, what's up with him? So, you wanna dance?"  
James blinked before answering timidly. "I guess."  
Tabby noticed the boy was rather shy, but she grabbed his hand and drug him out onto the dance floor anyway. "Don't worry, I won't bite ya," she stated, grinning playfully.  
Scott opened the door to reveal the Acolytes. He smiled the best he could as he stepped out of the way to allow them to come in. Pietro immediately zipped over to Pyro.  
"Tabitha's flirting with the newest X-Geek! Can you believe her?! Why is she doing that?!" he exclaimed so fast you had to be used to it to catch what he said. Fortunately, John was used to it by now.  
"Calm down, mate. She's just having fun. Lighten up a little."  
Pietro glared at the Aussie before zipping off to another part of the foyer. Jennifer watched the speed demon go before she bounded off to enjoy herself. Everyone else just kind of roamed off to do their own thing.  
Ororo walked over to the DJ stand and put in a request for a slow song, and the next song to come on was Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling in Love'. She smiled as she drug Logan onto the dance floor. Kitty eagerly brought herself closer to Lance, wrapping her arms around his neck. Amara and Rahne did the same to Ray and Sam. Pietro glared as Tabitha began slow dancing with James, who seemed quite timid about the whole ordeal, until he spotted Jennifer simply standing by herself. He quickly went over and asked her to dance, to which she accepted. Denise was a bit hesitant, but eventually she placed her hands on Kurt's shoulders, hoping she wasn't blushing too much. Rogue's head rested on Evan's shoulder, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. Remy convinced Yesima to dance with him while Jamie got to dance with Jubilee. John had spotted the girl dressed as a dark angel the moment he walked in and had proceeded to try and convince her to dance. Amber, being untrusting and shy, took a lot of persuading before she eventually let the Aussie lead her onto the floor. Everyone else simply sat this one out.  
"Man, the last time this happened, I ended up destroying the school gym," Denise whispered.  
Kurt grinned. "Zat von't happen zis time."  
"Scout's honor?" she asked, smirking.  
He chuckled. "Scout's honor."  
"This is nice. Maybe Denise was right. Just about the only acting up from the Brotherhood I've seen is Tabitha's flirting and Pietro's grumbling."  
"The party's barely started, 'Ro. I'm bettin' they won't last."  
"Give them a chance, Logan."  
He simply grunted as he watched the couples swaying back and forth. As the song slowly came to an end, couples started splitting, some going to regenerate themselves with snacks and drinks, others getting ready for the next song. Denise sent her cousin a smirk when the tango began playing. Nearly all of the kids groaned, not many of them knowing how to dance to this song.  
"Mr. McCoy!" Kitty whined. "We, like, don't know how to, like, dance to this!"  
"I wouldn't say that, Pretty Kitty."  
Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"  
Lance laughed. "No! But Denise does. She had to take lessons by insistence of her mom."  
"Who would I dance with, dear cousin?"  
"Pyro can tango," Pietro stated. He went on at the curious looks. "I made him come with me to my classes. I really don't feel like dancing to this. What do ya say, John?"  
"Alright, mate. One time, an' that's it."  
Denise smiled. "One time's all Mr. McCoy better play this. Shall we?"  
Pyro grinned as he took her extended hand. "We shall."  
  
Review Response Time!!  
  
White Vampire – Yeah, Amber will be in there. I was wondering how she should act around Pyro. He'll be the one I'm hooking her up with. I've already got him to drag her onto the dance floor, even though she still doesn't trust him, but I need more ideas on how she should act.  
  
BaronOBeefDip – Okay, thanks for the tip. Well, am I doing a good job with her? I hope I'm not killin' your charrie. Can you give me some ideas on what she would be doing at the party? I'd really appreciate it!  
  
Yokokaru-chan – It's okay, I won't hurt ya for not reviewing. Anyways, there's only two Inuyasha peeps, so she won't be too out of place. So, any ideas on how she should be acting? I hope I'm doin' okay so far.  
  
That goes for the rest of you who sent in their charries! Please tell me if I'm totally screwing them up so that I can fix it! And any ideas on how they should act would be great! Thanks, until next chapter! Buh bye! 


	13. Still At The Party

Chapter 13!!! Yay!! Alright, if you have even tried to review mah story, your character should have gotten a few lines in this. Most of you have, and I am so grateful for that! -Passes out virtual cookie cakes to all who reviewed.- Anyways, I have a feeling this party will last for one or two more chapters. Sorry, but there are some things I would like to happen. Things that have to do with romance. Yes, I shall fit everyone's romances into this party somehow!! If you have anything you would like to see happen, please tell me now!!!! Anyways, on to the story! Enjoy!!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone but Dee, Drew, and Dee's parents. Please don't sue. Thank you.   
Everyone on the dance floor stepped back until a circle was formed around the Acolyte and the Brotherhood girl. As they danced to the music blasting from the speakers, the others commented on how they were quite good.  
"This is kinda scary," Tabitha muttered from her position between James and Pietro.  
"The Waltz playing?" James asked, a bit confused.  
"The part where Pyro is dancing to it," Pietro supplied before Tabitha could.  
Tabitha grinned. "But man, can they dance!" To emphasize this point, she swung her hips from side to side a few times.  
"So, you dancin' with me next slow song?" Pietro asked speedily, glaring at James.  
"Cool your jets, Pie! I'm only bein' nice. James here doesn't have a date."  
"It doesn't mean he can take mine!"  
"She kind of dragged me onto the dance floor," James supplied.  
Pietro glared before crossing his arms and 'hmph'ing. Tabitha shrugged her shoulders and smiled flirtatiously.  
Bobby walked over to Jubilee and Jamie, Christina by his side.  
"I thought you two were going as a prince and a princess."  
"Jamie thought of this idea at the last minute."  
Jamie blushed, but grinned all the same. He was enjoying his time in the spotlight, as Bobby bombarded him with tons of questions. Jubilee proceeded to talk to Christina, who was enjoying herself quite well.  
This particular dance was a little too formal for Ryka, but she found redemption in talking to Kurt, whom she considered a brother, since she was raised by Mystique and all. Todd didn't enjoy being near the elf that had come to be his arch nemesis, so he excused himself to go get a drink.  
"So, you vere raised by mien mutter?"  
Ryka nodded before speaking. "Lord Maboroshi helped me learn to control my powers."  
"Vell, I didn't know she vas mien mutter until after I came here."  
"You seem to know Denise well, even though she's a Brotherhood member."  
"She would have been an X-Man, but Scott blew zat chance vhen he learned about Lance."  
Ryka raised an eyebrow as she looked towards Scott. Todd came back over to them as they were finishing up their conversation, but he came bearing snacks on a plate and three glasses, trying to be the well behaved little toad he could be.  
"So, what's this party really about, sheila?" John asked as he continued dancing with Denise.  
"I wanted to prove that the Brotherhood can behave themselves. Hopefully the Acolytes can do the same."  
"With the right motivation," he replied grinning. "We wouldn't want to get burned into a crisp."  
Denise smiled as the song came to an end and they finished their dance. The next song to come on was a fast song. The dance floor was once again filled with people who wished to dance to this particular song. Denise headed over to where Darcy was standing.  
"Having fun, Cee?"  
Darcy nodded, smiling as she sipped her drink.  
"Why not dance with someone?"  
"I will later, okay?"  
Denise nodded before walking over to Kurt, Ryka, and Todd.  
"Yo, what's that?" Todd asked, examining the beginning of Denise's scar on her right shoulder.  
"That would be the reminder of my powers emerging. I passed out after using them and fell on a piece of metal. Sliced me up pretty bad."  
"Sorry."  
"Don't be. It's in the past, right?"  
Todd smiled at her, as he quoted a movie they had watched earlier this week. "Hakuna Matata."  
Denise giggled slightly. "Exactly my point."  
"You don't stay shy and in hiding for long, do you?"  
Denise blinked at Ryka's question before she smiled in understanding. "I figured, 'Hey, I surf wearing less than this, so what's the worry, right'?"  
As one song ended and another began, Ryka spoke. "I like this song. Todd?"  
"Let's dance, yo," Todd said, smiling.  
"Baka," she replied, Todd frowned, but was soon smiling again. "Later Dee, Kato."  
"Kato?" Kurt asked.  
"It's Japanese. It means Kurt."  
Kurt nodded as he watched Todd and Ryka walk out onto the dance floor. "She speaks Japanese?"  
"Apparently so. Come on," she said, wrapping her arms around one of his. "We must mingle dahling." Her false British accent and proper posture made him laugh as they wandered through the crowd of teens.  
Lance looked down at Kitty when he spotted his cousin from their position on the dance floor. "She sure gets into the partying mood fast, doesn't she?"  
Kitty giggled. "She's, like, quite the opposite of you." At his glare, her giggles increased. "Not, like, in a bad way. I wouldn't, like, have you any other way."  
Lance smiled until he bumped into somebody. As he turned to see Scott dancing with Jean, he grinned. "Hello, Summers," he said, as civilized as possible.  
"Alvers. Having a good time?"  
"Splendid and you?"  
"The same."  
As they went their separate ways, Ororo smiled. Lance and Scott not butting heads was sure to be a good sign. She turned to where Logan had been at her side moments before, only to discover he wasn't there. As she scanned the room, she found him standing off to the side, watching everyone very closely, especially the Brotherhood and the Acolytes.  
Jennifer made her way over to where Pietro, Tabitha, and James were standing. She rather enjoyed this song and didn't see a reason to waste an opportunity to dance. Since Pietro had asked her earlier, after introducing himself, of course, and being as she was an outgoing person, she decided he might not mind dancing with her again.  
"Hey Pietro. You danced with me earlier, remember?"  
"Yeah, I remember," he replied in his speedy tone. "Jennifer, wasn't it?"  
"Yep! Would you like to dance again? I happen to like this song."  
Pietro saw Tabitha glare at Jennifer, which didn't go unnoticed by Jennifer either, who could be quite mean at times, and decided he would. "Sure, no problem. Let's go."  
As the two made their way out onto the dance floor, Tabitha growled slightly. James looked at the girl beside him.  
"Are you okay?" he asked.  
Tabitha blinked, her smiled returning as she remembered the guy beside her. "I'm great now! Let's go talk to Ray and 'Mara! I haven't seen her in forever!"  
"Okay," James replied as he was half dragged over to where Ray and Amara stood.  
"'Mara! How's it goin'?"  
Amara smiled widely as Tabitha stopped in front of her. "Tabby! It's going great! What about you?"  
"You know me," Tabitha responded with a wink. "Doin' good, Ray?"  
Ray smiled slightly. "I'm alright. I see you've met James."  
"And helped yourself to him," Amara added, giggling slightly.  
"Well, I came with Pie, but he seems quite busy right now. Besides, he looked a bit lonely."  
Amara noticed Pietro dancing with a girl she hadn't seen before. "Who's that?"  
"I think she's with Magneto's group."  
Amara nodded as she and Tabby continued talking. Ray turned towards James. "How'd you end up with her?"  
"She came over to me and Scott earlier," he began.  
"Lemme guess, Scott bailed?" Ray continued. When James nodded, Ray chuckled. "Tabby's a wild child, but you get used to her."  
"Hey!" Tabitha exclaimed, having heard the last part of that sentence. Ray chuckled again as Tabitha proceeded to pout.  
Amber walked over to stand beside Ororo, one of the closest friends she had at the Institute. When Ororo smiled, Amber began talking.  
"Why won't he leave me alone?"  
Ororo spotted John looking for the girl he had danced with earlier. "I believe he's attracted to you."  
Amber blushes slightly, her shyness showing a bit. "Why doesn't he just say that? All he does is beg me to dance with him."  
"John is a unique character. From what I have heard about the boy, he's not completely sane."  
"Oh. Mousse has been taken care of, right?"  
Ororo smiled as Amber changed the subject. "Yes. Don't worry and have fun."  
Amber nodded before walking off again. She still didn't fully trust the opposing teams, but Ororo seemed quite calm.  
Remy handed Yesima a drink as they watched everyone around them. "Havin' fun, chere?"  
"No, Remy, this is the dullest night of my life," she replied, giving him a sarcastic look.  
Remy pretended to be horrified. "Je suis désolé pour entendre cela, chere. Would you like to leave?"  
She grinned before replying. "No, this will do. I'll just have to suffer."  
"If you insist, chere."  
Roberto growled whenever someone passed him, snickering. Jubilee saw this and asked Jamie if she could dance with Roberto for a few songs, seeing as he hadn't danced with anyone yet. Jamie nodded, replying that he wanted to get a drink and some snacks before dancing again. As Jubilee made her way towards Roberto, Sam pulled Rahne onto the dance floor when another slow song started playing.  
"Hey Roberto, wanna dance?" Jubilee asked, grinning.  
"You sure you want to dance with a fairy," he asked, slightly peeved.  
She giggled. "Come on, it'll be fun!" She didn't wait for him to respond, she simply drug him out onto the dance floor, like Tabitha had James earlier. In fact, seeing Jubilee dragging Roberto, Tabitha decided she was up for dancing again as well, pulling James onto the dance floor once more. Amara followed suit, dragging Ray behind her.  
"Would you like to dance?" Jean asked Piotr, since she had noticed him standing alone.  
"That would be nice," he replied, ever the gentleman, as he led her onto the floor.  
"Hey," Scott said as he approached Darcy. "You look kind of lonely over here. Would you like to dance?"  
Darcy nodded happily. "I'd love to."  
Scott led her onto the dance floor as Lance and Kitty walked over to Denise and Kurt. Lance smirked as he took on a British accent of his own, after overhearing his cousin talking in one.  
"Excuse me, good chap. Do you mind if I borrow this lovely young lady?"  
Denise giggled as Kurt shook his head. "I don't mind, but you might vant to ask her."  
Lance nodded as he turned towards his cousin. "Will you do me the honor of this dance, milady?" he asked, extending his hand in a royal fashion.  
"Why, I'd love to dahling," she replied before turning towards Kurt. "Do wait for my return."  
At his nod, she giggled and walked onto the floor with Lance. Kitty was trying her best not to collapse due to the laughter she was barely containing. She turned to Kurt, giggling between her words.  
"Like, can you," she giggled, "believe those two?"  
"Zey are quite ze pair."  
"Ah hate to interrupt, but mah deah brothah has not once asked meh to dance," Rogue's southern drawl broke in.  
They turned to find Evan and Rogue standing behind them, Rogue glaring at Kurt.  
"Sorry, schwester. Vould you like to dance?" he offered meekly.  
"Ah'd be delighted," she replied, smiling as they headed for the floor.  
"Like, if you can't beat 'em," Kitty began, shrugging.  
"Join 'em," Evan finished, leading her onto the floor.  
"Would you like to dance now?" Adolf asked as he turned towards Wanda.  
Wanda looked around before she nodded. "Fine, but just a few songs."  
Adolf nodded as they followed everyone else's suit. John had even managed to get Amber back out on the dance floor. The only two people not dancing were Fred and Jamie. The latter was standing beside the former, a bit nervous around the giant.  
"I won't hurt ya," Fred began. "I promised Dee I'd be good."  
Jamie nodded. "Looks like we're the only ones sitting this one out."  
"Yeah, well, I figured I wouldn't do much dancin'. Who'd wanna dance with someone like me anyways?"  
Jamie frowned at that question, although he didn't say anything. As he went back to watching the others dance, he felt that no one should think that about themselves, no matter the circumstances.  
"Man, you're short," Lance said, causing Denise to step on his foot, hard. "Ow! Dee!"  
"Sorry, it was an accident," she said, smiling sweetly.  
"Uh huh, sure. Well, we've all been acting good so far."  
"Yeah, I just hope nothing goes wrong."  
"You really want this to go smoothly, don't you?"  
"Mutants shouldn't be fighting one another, Lance. We need to stick together. It's the humans that we should be wary about."  
"You think humans will start a war?"  
"I think they're afraid of change. Change scares them, and in their fear, they turn to weapons to protect them."  
"Yeah," he sighed. "How are we gonna get everyone else to see this?"  
She smiled slightly. "I'm still working on that part." As she glanced behind Lance, she chuckled. "Tabby seems quite comfortable congregating with the enemy."  
Lance turned to see what Denise meant, only to turn back around laughing. "That's Tabitha for ya. I don't think she has any enemies besides her father."  
Denise smiled and nodded, but she didn't say anything else after that. She sighed as she rested her head on her cousin's chest, thinking about her parents and his.  
Rogue watched from where she was dancing with Kurt. "Their hidin' somethin'."  
"Vho?"  
"Dee an' Lance. Somethin' about his past. Ah can tell."  
"Maybe he doesn't vant his past brought up."  
"Maybeh, but Ah think it's more than that."  
"Maybe zey'll tell us later. Give zem time."  
"Ah guess you're raght."  
"Enjoying ze party?"  
"Evan's really sweet when he wahnts ta be."  
Kurt nodded. "I just hope he doesn't get beaten bloody for dancing vith Keety."  
Rogue giggled slightly. "He won't. Ah trust he's got bettah thangs ta do."  
"Zat and Dee von't let him."  
"That too," Rogue stated as they fell into a comfortable silence.  
"So, like, are you, like, having fun?"  
"Yeah, man. I really like Rogue. I'm glad Dee set this thing up."  
Kitty giggled. "Like, me too. I think Lance, like, did some setting up himself."  
"What do ya mean?"  
"Like, something about Dee and Kurt."  
"You think she likes him?"  
She shrugged. "I, like, seriously don't know." She grinned as she looked over to where her boyfriend was dancing with the previously mentioned girl. She then turned to look for Tabitha, whom she spotted dancing with James. If there's one person who would have found out by now, it would be her. "But I have an idea on, like, how to find out." She said, grinning deviously, causing her dancing partner to blink. That's the 13th chapter!!! Was it good?! Anyways, review response time!!!  
  
BaronOBeefDip – Thanks for the encouragement. I did my best with Ryka. If I screwed her up in any way, I give you permission to hit me with a virtual hammer. .;  
  
me – Um, thank you..  
  
Doctor What – Here's more!! And James got quite a few more lines!! If I screwed up, I give you permission to hit me as well.  
  
Yokokaru-Chan – Alrighty! I have continued! And I hope to continue soon again!! Speaking of continuing, are you ever going to continue your Evolution story?! I'd enjoy it if you did. Until later!!  
  
P.S. ATTENTION TO ALL WHO SUBMITTED AN OC!!! If you submitted a character to my story, please e-mail me at angelxfromxhellyahoo.com, or leave someway to contact you in a review!! I have an idea for a sequel, but I need to know if you would like for your character to be in it. The sequel will take place fifteen years after this story and there are some questions I need to ask you all! Thank you and have a nice day!! -Smiles and waves.- 


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